^Jb 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


V3  -x  cAjuC       O^  ^^  (Jul  L^rv^      t^-iytZ^ 


THE    SEA    FISH    OF   TRINIDAD 


THE 


Sea  Fish  of  Trinidad 


BY 

HARRY  VINCENT 


PORT   OF   SPAIN 

1910 


Copyright,  iqio 
HARRV  VINCENT 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Co. 
42S-435  East  Twenty-fourth  Street,  New  York 


ivi35l837 


Pi  i2 


PREFACE 

"  Master,  I  marvel  how  the  fishes  live  in  the  sea. 
"  Why, as  men  doa-land ;  the  great  ones  eat  up  the  little  ones." 

Pericles. 

THIS  little  book,  insignificant  though  it  appears, 
represents  the  condensed  experience  of  over  thirty 
years'  fishing  and  studying  the  habits  and  hatmts  of 
fishes  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Paria,  and  has  been 
written  with  two  main  objects.  One  is  to  interest  the  anglers 
of  the  home-land,  by  informing  them  that  there  are  other 
places  besides  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Florida  Coast  for 
the  chase  of  the  wily  "tarpon"  and  the  huge  "manta"  or 
"  devilfish  "  ;  while  I  hope  also  to  create  local  interest  in  that 
natural  bank  we  shall  before  long  have  to  draw  heavily 
on — our  resources  of  sea-food. 

The  sea  is  the  mother  of  many  mysteries  as  yet  unknown, 
and  it  is  really  only  in  its  exploration  that  man  can  truly 
realize  what  an  insignificant  pigmy  he  is.  Many  of  the  able 
leader  writers  of  the  present  day,  talk  jubilantly  and  vain- 
gloriously  about  the  triumphal  march  of  intellect,  but  it  is 
to  be  questioned  whether  the  opinion  of  Isaac  Newton,  after- 
wards endorsed  by  Thackeray,  is  not  the  true  way  of  regard- 
ing the  capacities  of  human  reason.  Both  these  great 
writers  say,  "  that  it  always  had  been  as  it  was,  and  would 
be,  but  as  a  little  child  picking  pebbles  on  the  great  sea- 
shore," and  that  the  chief  result  of  their  knowledge  was  to 
show  them  how  little  they  knew. 

In  my  preliminary  canter,  I  have  probably  prefaced 
rather  vaingloriously  with  the  thirty  years'  experience. 
What  little  I  have  gathered,  I  now  give  freely  to  the  public, 
hoping  that  therein  the  proverbial  grain  of  wheat  may  be 
found.     Soon  after  Porto  Rico  became  a  portion  of  the 


4  PREFACE 

United  States,  the  Fish  Commission  steamer  "Fish  Hawk" 
was  sent  to  make  a  complete  investigation  of  the  marine  Hfe 
of  that  island,  with  a  party  of  well-known  scientists  on 
board.  The  result  of  their  labours,  in  a  large  and  exhaustive 
report,  was  issued  in  1900.  This  volimie  contains  coloured 
life-like  plates  of  many  of  the  fish,  all  of  which  are  also  found 
in  ovir  waters,  and  I  am  deeply  indebted  to  this  book  for 
assistance  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  Trinidad  Fish.  As  far 
as  I  have  been  enabled  to  classify  them,  there  are  over  one 
hundred  varieties  of  sea-fish,  of  which  eighty-five  may  be 
described  as  more  or  less  edible,  fourteen  out  of  that  number 
deserving  to  rank  as  high-class  table-fish.  I  have  personally 
assisted  at  the  capture  with  hook,  harpoon,  net,  or  fish-pot, 
of  every  one  of  the  fish  indexed,  so  can  guarantee  their  exist- 
ence. 

I  can  but  trust  in  launching  this  little  "brochure"  that 
the  reader  thereof,  when  he  has  digested  it,  may  be  a  fitting 
companion  for  those  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  boats  "  tagged 
by  the  lean  fin." 

Harry  Vincent. 


My  most  grateful  thanks  are  due  to  those  who  have 
generously  given  me  many  of  the  really  imique  photographs 
with  which  this  little  work  is  embellished,  namely  Messrs. 
C.  S.  Rogers,  Randolph  Rust,  Thomas  Potter,  R.  R.  Mole, 
and  our  Entomologist,  F.  W.  Urich.  Also  to  Mr.  Vicente 
Marryatt,  whose  neat  and  elegant  draughtsmanship  has  been 
of  material  assistance  to  me  in  the  production  of  the  chart 

of  the  Bocas. 

Harry  Vincent. 


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CONTENTS 

1.  Sea  Fishing  in  the  Bocas  Islands 9 

2.  The  Sea  Fish  of  Trinidad  from  an  Economic 

Point  of  View  as  Sea-food 33 

3.  Classified  List  of  the  Trinidad  Sea-fishes  ....  43 

4.  A  Trip  to  the  Caves  of  Gaspar  Grande 55 

5.  Eastward  Ho 63 

6.  The  Remous S$ 

7.  "  Tragedy  of  the  First  Boca  " 91 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING  PAGB 

Chart  Showing  the  Routes  of  the  Royal  Mail  Steam  Packet  Company,  and  the 

Position  of  Trinidad  on  the  World's  Map Opposite  Bocas 

Chart  of  the  Four  Bocas,  Trinidad,  and  the  Depths  of  the  Banks  in  Fathoms 

Opposite  Routes 

Pointe  Baleine,  Gasparee Opposite  Preface 

Hauling  the  Bait-Seine,  Savonetta  Bay,  Gasparillo Opposite  Contents 

Jetty  and  Little  Bay,  Pointe  Baleine,  Gasparillo 12 

"Copper  Hole,"  Monos 16 

Bulmer's  Bay,  Chacachacare iS 

View  of  the  Boca  from  Chacachacare  Hill i8 

Point  between  Rust's  and  Petit  Bourg  Bay 22 

Eastern  Side,  Huevos  Bay,  Johnny  Wehekind's  House 24 

Watchman's  House,  Patos 28 

La  Tinta  Bay,  Chacachacare  (showing  the  Mountains  of  Venezuela  on  the 

opposite  side  of  Boca  Grande) 28 

Rust's  Bay,  Chacachacare 30 

Chacachacare  Lighthouse 34 

320- Lb.  Grouper  caught  at  Brighton  Pier,  La  Brea 38 

2i2-Lb.  Grouper  caught  off  Brighton  Pier,  La  Brea 38 

Sorb  (lutianus  analis),  18  lbs.,  caught  with  Rod  by  J.  A.  Bulmer,  from  the 

Jetty,  Chacachacare 42 

First  Picture  of  the  Cave,  Caspar  Grande 56 

Second  Picture  of  the  Cave,  showing  the  "Pulpit " 58 

Third  Picture  of  the  Cave 60 

Fourth  Picture  of  the  Cave,  showing  the  Archway  leading  to  the  Unknown 

Beyond   62 

Road  Through  Mora  Forest  (between  the  Oropouche  and  Melao  Rivers) 66 

Surf  Bathing  on  the  Nariva  Beach 70 

View  of  the  Nariva  River  from  the  Ferry 70 

Crossing  the  Ortoire  Ferry 74 

The  Ortoire  River 74 

Point  Radix,  Mayaro 80 

Guayaguayare,  showing  Oil  Officials'  Quarters  on  the  Beach,  Gran  Calle  Point 

in  the  Distance 80 

Fishing  Party,  La  Tinta,  Boca  Grande 82 

Pointe  Baleine,  Gasparee  or  Caspar  Grande 82 

Rust's  Bay,  Chacachacare,  showing  the  passing  of  the  "  Remous" 86 

Rust's  Bay,  after  the  "Remous"  has  finished 88 

Giant  Ray  or  Devil  Fish  (manta  birostris),  12  Ft.  across  the  Wings 90 


SEA  FISHING  IN  THE  BOCAS  ISLANDS 


Part  I 
SEA  FISHING  IN  THE  BOCAS  ISLANDS 

Here  by  these  crystal  pools  you  may 
Preserve  a  conscience  clear  as  they; 
And  when  by  sullen  thoughts  you  find 
Your  harassed  not  busied  mind 
In  sable  melancholy  clad, 
Distempered,  serious,  turning  sad; 
Hence  fetch  your  cure,  cast  in  your  bait; 
All  anxious  cares  and  thoughts  will  straight 
Fly  with  such  speed,  they'll  seem  to  be 
Possesst  with  the  hydrophobic; 
The  water's  calmness  in  your  breast, 
And  smoothness  on  your  brow  shall  rest. 

Thomas  Weaver. 

A  S  this  article  is  written  especially  for  sporting  visitors, 
ZA  it  deals  chiefly  with  fishing  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
-*  '■Bocas,  as  that  is  the  only  portion  of  Trinidad  whereat 
suitable  accommodation  in  the  shape  of  residences,  boats  and 
boatmen,  can  be  easily  obtained.  The  Bocas  Islands  are 
four  in  number,  and  all  of  them  possess  houses,  generally 
situated  on  the  shores  of  small  bays  or  inlets  of  their  own. 
These  houses  are  suitably  furnished,  and  can  be  hired  by  the 
week,  fortnight,  or  month,  at  a  monthly  rental  ranging  from 
$25  to  $50  (roughly  speaking  ;^5  to  ;^io.)  Pair-oared  boats 
can  be  hired  from  $10  to  $12  per  month  (£2  to  ;^2.io),  while 
a  small  fishing  boat  with  a  pair  of  sculls  will  cost  from  $5 
to  $7  (;^i  to  ;^i .  10) .  Boatmen  well  versed  in  all  the  tricks  of 
tides  and  currents,  which  are  very  strong  on  occasions  at  the 
Bocas,  can  be  obtained  at  40  cents  (is.  8d.)  per  diem  with 
food,  or  48  cents  (2s.)  without  rations,  but  visitors  will  find 
it  more  to  the  interest  of  sport  to  feed  them,  as  otherwise 
they  may,  when  required  for  the  boat,  say  they  have  to  cook 
their  food.     Visitors  who  lease  one  of  these  houses  have  to 


12  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

provide  their  own  food,  liquor,  bed  and  table  linen,  and  cut- 
lery; all  the  other  furnishings  are  found  with  the  house. 
A  small  stock  of  groceries,  pickled  meats,  etc.,  will  have  to 
be  taken  down  on  assuming  possession  of  the  island  home, 
also  some  live  poultry.  The  Government  Gulf  Steamer 
visits  the  Islands  four  times  a  week,  and  supplies  of  fresh 
meat,  ice,  etc.,  can  also  be  had  down  on  board  when  re- 
required.  The  climate  of  these  islands  is  very  healthy,  dry, 
and  equable,  though  necessarily  hot  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  under  a  tropical  sun ;  the  scenery  is  lovely,  bathing  not 
to  be  surpassed  anywhere,  and  these  subsidiaries  should  go 
far  towards  enhancing  the  enjoyments  of  the  keenest  fisher- 
man. The  names  and  situations  of  these  four  islands  are : — 
I.  Chacachacare,  separated  from  the  Spanish  Main  or 
Venezuelan  Coast  by  the  Boca  Grande  or  fourth  Boca. 
This  island  may  be  described  as  consisting  of  two  smaller 
islets  or  ridges  converging  towards  the  north  until  they  meet, 
being  there  connected  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land  about  a  him- 
dred  yards  broad,  and  a  few  feet  above  sea  level.  On  the 
Western  side  of  this  neck  is  the  beautiful  Bay  of  La  Tinta 
facing  the  Grand  Boca  and  the  Venezuelan  Coast;  on  the 
Eastern  side  there  is  a  fine  cove  with  deep  water  formed  by 
the  ridges.  This  bay  was  much  used  as  an  anchorage  by  the 
**  Dreadnought  "  when  she  came  to  Trinidad  on  her  trial  trip 
in  1907.  Chacachacare  and  Monos  are  the  largest  of  the 
four,  being  about  one  and  a  half  square  miles  in  extent  each, 
and  having  a  population  of  several  hundred  Creoles,  who 
fish  in  a  very  desultory  manner,  their  chief  subsistence  being 
derived  from  what  they  call  "  gardens  "  on  the  neighbouring 
mainland  of  Venezuela,  where  they  squat  at  the  risk  of  a 
very  summary  and  forcible  ejection.  As  the  land  on  the 
Main  is  very  rich,  what  they  plant  in  maize,  plantains, 
cocoa,  etc.,  gives  back  fourfold  (at  very  little  cost  of  labour) 
what  they  could  raise  on  the  poor  dry  soil  of  their  own 
island.  Chacachacare  boasts  a  light-house  on  the  north- 
west point,  at  an  elevation  of  800  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
It  commands  the  Boca  de  Navios  (Ships')  and  has  an  ex- 
tremely powerful  light,  being  visible  from  a  ship's  deck  at  a 
distance  of  40  miles.     There  are  four  residences  available  for 


SI 


SEA  FISHING  IN  THE  BOCAS  ISLANDS  13 

lease  or  hire,  La  Tinta,  Boissiere's,  Rust's,  and  La  Haute. 
As  regards  fishing,  I  have  always  found  at  Chacachacare 
that  the  "ligne  dormante,"  a  process  I  shall  describe  later 
on,  is  the  most  successful,  as  the  waters  there  abound  with 
the  big  red  snappers,  locally  called  "sorbs".  There  is  the 
usual  rock  and  small  bank  fishing  inside  the  bay,  and  there 
are  six  deep  sea  banks  of  good  repute  for  bottom  fishing  out- 
side, viz. : 

Banc-de-Sud.  Here  there  are  two  banks  about  a  htmdred 
yards  from  the  shore  of  a  salt-marsh,  situated  on  the  south 
side  of  the  island.  The  marks  of  all  the  banks  are  well 
known  to  the  local  fisherman. 

''La  Flow''  or  The  Bell-Buoy,  a  buoy  with  a  bell  on  it 
moored  near  to  the  Diamond  Rock,  a  dangerous  spot  for 
sailing  vessels,  particularly  at  "remous"  time.  Large 
catches  of  the  fine  snapper,  locally  called  "vivanot  jolle 
bleu"  are  made  here  at  certain  seasons.  This  bank  can  only 
be  fished  for  about  an  hour  or  two  at  half  rising  tide,  on 
account  of  the  currents. 

Ma  Julie,  outside,  La  Tinta  Bay: — dead  west,  facing 
about  the  middle  of  the  bay,  but  just  in  the  Grand  Boca. 
A  fine  bank,  and  less  under  the  influence  of  the  currents  than 
any  Boca  Bank. 

La  Cabouesse,  outside  in  the  Caribbean  looking  west, 
close  to  a  little  rocky  islet  called  La  Cabouesse,  which  is  just 
separated  from  Chacachacare  by  a  small  channel.  Good 
"vivanot"  bank  to  be  fished  on  the  falling  tide.  A  fisher- 
man trolling  through  this  small  channel  any  day  near  "  re- 
mous" time  in  the  "tarpon"  season,  is  pretty  certain  to  feel 
one  or  two. 

Landslip  Bank,  about  eighty  yards  from  a  large  landslip 
on  the  Chacachacare  side  of  the  Third  Boca,  going  south  in 
the  direction  of  Point  Girod. — ^To  be  fished  on  half  rising 
tide. 

2.  Huevos  or  Egg  Island,  separates  the  Boca  de  Navios 
from  the  Huevos  or  Second  Boca ;  otherwise,  it  is  the  island 
between  the  Third  and  Second  Bocas,  having  Chacachacare 
on  its  west,  and  Monos  on  its  east.  From  a  fisherman's 
point  of  view,  Huevos  must  be  looked  upon  as  the  most 


14 


SEA    FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 


favourable  "  pied  h  terre"  of  all,  as  it  has  an  embarrassment 
of  riches  in  the  shape  of  thirty  to  forty  banks  within  easy  call. 
There  are  also  several  rocks  in  either  Boca,  whereon  a  pa- 
tient angler  with  "ligne  dormante"  is  nearly  sure  of  hooking 
a  large  fish.  Trolling,  or  as  it  is  called  in  England,  "  whif- 
fling," round  the  island,  keeping  near  the  rocks  at  low  tide, 
particularly  if  the  bait  be  attractive,  is  often  rewarded  with 
a  monster  "barracouta"  or  a  giant  "tarpon".  There  is  but 
one  house  on  the  island,  belonging  to  Mr.  "Johnny"  Wehe- 
kind,  an  old  fisherman  and  keen  lover  of  the  sport,  but  as  it 
is  one  of  his  subsidiary  industries  it  can  generally  be  hired. 
It  is  situated  on  the  shores  of  Huevos  Bay  and  has  a  beautiful 
beach  with  vast  expanse  of  sand.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
island  is  a  cave  of  the  "guachero"  birds  or  "diablotins." 
The  fishing  banks  round  Huevos  are  too  numerous  for  re- 
capitulation here,  so  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  principal 
ones,  starting  from  Huevos  Bay  to  go  round  by  the  Third 
Boca,  and  come  back  home  by  the  Second. 

Colonial  Bank. — For  this  you  open  out  the  Third  Boca 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  off  Point  Blades.  A 
"vivanot"  and  "grouper"  bank,  to  be  fished  at  half  rising 
tide. 

Point  Balata,  just  outside  the  corner  of  the  point,  against 
the  rocks  of  the  Third  Boca  Cape.     Mixed  fish  bank. 

Bank  Vincent,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  yards  from 
point  on  the  Huevos  side  of  Third  Boca.  Can  be  fished 
from  half  to  full  tide.  Good  for  "vivanot",  "walliacke," 
and  "tete-ronde." 

Plage-blanche,  opposite  the  small  beach  of  the  name  that 
is  strewn  with  small  white  pebbles.  This  and  the  three 
following  ones  in  the  circuit  ("  Balata,"  "  Batiment  ecrasse)," 
and  also  "  Des  Enfants",  can  be  fished  almost  at  any  tide 
(always  excepting  the  time  of  the  "remous"),  as  from  the 
formation  of  the  island  the  bend  of  the  northern  arm  forms 
a  strong  protection  against  winds,  and  creates  what  the 
natives  call  a  "calme"  nearly  always  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Third  Boca.  They  are  all  good  "vivanot"  and  "tete- 
ronde"  banks. 

Balata.    This  bank  is  situated  in  the  small  cove  of  that 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS 


15 


name.  Here  there  is  a  narrow  channel  across  the  island, 
through  which  the  water  enters  from  outside,  navigable  for 
fishing  boats  at  high  tide  when  calm,  with  careful  steering. 

Bdtiment-ecrasee.  This  bank  is  situated  about  half-way 
between  Balata  and  the  northwestern  point  of  Huevos 
called  "  Pointe  des  Enfants." 

Des  Enfants,  about  fifty  yards  before  you  reach  the  point, 
near  to  the  shore.  Fine  sport  can  be  sometimes  obtained 
fishing  under  the  lee  of  "Pointe  des  Enfants"  with  "ligne 
dormante".  It  is  advisable  to  have  at  least  one  hundred 
fathoms  of  line,  as  there  are  large  groupers  and  "pargues- 
dent-chien"  to  be  found  here,  necessitating  skill  in  playing. 
You  can  commence  operations  shortly  after  the  tide  begins 
to  rise.  When  leaving  "Des  Enfants"  you  can  get  out  your 
trolling  line  and  go  round  the  point  to  the  Caribbean  Sea 
outside,  it  being  a  favourite  locale  for  tarpon,  cavalli,  king- 
fish,  and  in  the  season  fine  large  mackerel.  Going  round  the 
north  side  of  Huevos  about  a  quarter  mile  from  shore  you 
come  to  the  following  red  snapper  banks,  all  to  be  fished  on 
the  falling  tide : 

Loo  Balata,  a  very  deep  bank,  where  you  want  plenty  of 
spare  line  and  the  currents  are  exceptionally  strong. 

La  Grenade,  further  again  from  the  shore,  the  most  out- 
side of  all. 

Banc  VAhoo.  Here  you  begin  to  take  the  turn  to  enterthe 
Second  Boca.  This  is  a  very  large  bank,  and  if  the  currents 
are  not  too  strong  can  be  fished  a  la  "  Margaritan",  which 
means  the  boat  can  be  allowed  to  drift  a  bit  with  the  chance 
of  dropping  into  a  school  or  shoal  of  fish. 

Parasol,  near  the  Parasol,  sometimes  called  the  Umbrella 
Rock,  at  the  northwest  entrance  of  the  Second  Boca  on  the 
Huevos  side.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Parasol  there  are  several 
rocks  where  good  fishing  can  be  obtained  a  la  "ligne  dor- 
mante." 

La  Gran'  Tante.  There  are  two  marks  for  this  bank 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  Huevos  shore, 
about  the  middle  of  the  island.  The  currents  here  are  ex- 
ceptionally strong.  If  you  strike  this  bank  on  a  calm  day 
from  half  to  full  tide,  you  are  Hkely  to  get  fine  sport. 


i6  SEA  FISH  OF  TRINIDAD 

On  leaving  this  bank  get  out  your  trolling  tackle,  for 
between"  Gran'  Xante" and  L'Islet  at  the  entrance  of  Huevos 
Bay  you  are  certain  to  feel  Tarpon  if  on  the  feed.  There  is 
also  a  spot  in  the  rocks  here,  which  if  you  ground  bait  with 
small  pieces  of  "zagaya"  (small  crabs) ,  and  then  fish  with 
"ligne  voyante",  you  can  catch  the  good  edible  fish  called 
"lippe"  or  "I'epais." 

3.  Monos  {Monkey)  is  separated  from  the  mainland  of 
Trinidad  (Chaguaramas)  by  the  first,  or  Monos  Boca.  This 
island  is  possibly  the  favourite  sea-bathing  resort  for  the 
residents  of  Port  of  Spain  and  country  districts,  having  on  it 
eight  residences,  to  wit,  Domus,  Balmoral,  Morrison  (Port 
Office),  Protheroe's,  Copper-Hole,  Grand  Fond,  Pampel- 
lonne's,  and  Kenny's.  There  are  innumerable  banks  round 
the  island  that  used  to  afford  good  sport,  but  I  have  noticed 
for  the  past  five  years  they  have  deteriorated  greatly  both  in 
the  size  and  quantity  of  the  fish  obtainable ;  so  I  shall  confine 
myself  to  mentioning  the  few  from  which  I  have  obtained 
fair  results  within  the  last  three  years,  starting  from  Kenny's 
Bay  and  going  west  round  by  the  Second  Boca  and  return- 
ing by  the  First. 

'' Kenny s  Point,''  the  southeastern  cape  of  Monos. 
The  bank  is  about  two  hundred  yards  out  and  west  of  the 
Point,  and  about  fifty  yards  west  of  the  "  basse"  or  reef  that 
runs  out  there,  at  an  acute  angle  with  Kenny's  house.  A 
mixed  bank,  vivanot,  salmon,  walliacke,  and  small  grouper. 
To  be  fished  from  half  rising  tide  to  full. 

Bank  Green,  almost  at  right  angles  with  Copper  Hole 
Point.  The  best  mark,  is  to  open  the  bathing  houses  of 
Protheroe's  and  Kenny's.  A  very  deep  falling  tide  bank. 
There  are  big  fish  here,  but  plenty  of  bait  and  patience  are 
required,  as  the  bottom  is  full  of  small  fry  who  are  at  the 
hooks  immediately  they  arrive. 

There  are  three  banks,  Jimmy,  Coco,  and  Pointe  Courante, 
before  you  reach  the  point  of  that  name,  the  southwestern 
corner  of  Monos,  and  the  turning  point  into  the  Second  Boca, 
but  they  are  of  little  use,  and  you  will  have  a  far  better 
chance  of  sport  trolling  from  Domus  corner  round  Pointe 
Courante  and  down  the  Second  Boca  as  far  as  Pointe  a  Dia- 


SEA   FISHING  IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  17 

ble.  En  route  in  the  boat  you  will  pass  several  banks,  the 
most  notable  being  "Cannes,"  "Francois,"  and  "  Trou 
Zombi."  At  '' Pointe  h  Diable"  are  two  marks  near  the 
Monos  shore,  where  good  fishing  can  be  had  at  three-quarter 
to  full  tide,  but  the  currents  are  very  strong  and  on  the 
second  mark  you  have  to  be  very  careful  of  the  wreck  of  a 
coal  vessel  that  lies  near  the  bottom  of  the  bank.  I  have 
lost  several  fine  grouper  after  striking  them,  as  they  entan- 
gled the  line  in  the  hulk  and  broke  my  gear.  Going  round 
the  north  side  on  the  Caribbean  there  are  two  "sometim- 
ish"  banks,  near  Biscayen  Bay,  one  called  "  Trou  Dehert"  and 
the  other  "Biscayen".  Shortly  after  passing  Biscayen  the 
turn  is  taken  and  the  First  Boca  entered.  There  are  fifteen 
to  twenty  banks  in  the  First  Boca,  but  of  late  years  I  have 
only  found  two  productive,  one  in  a  small  cove  called  'VAnse 
Maurice"  and  the  other  on  the  Chaguaramas  side  of  the 
Boca,  near  "VAnse  Poua."  They  are  both  mixed  banks, 
but  sometimes  the  "vivanots"  and  "walliackes"  are  of 
decent  size. 

4.  Gasparil,  or  Caspar  Crande.  The  western  end  is 
immediately  opposite  the  first  or  Monos  Boca,  while  the 
island  itself  forms  the  southern  arm  or  boundary  of  Chagua- 
ramas Bay.  It  is  well  known  on  account  of  its  extensive 
caves  at  the  western  end,  which  on  account  of  its  Bocas 
exposure  and  limestone  foundation  is  extremely  healthy, 
and  especially  suitable  for  people  with  bellows  to  mend. 
Gasparil  boasts  of  thirteen  residences,  most  of  which  can  be 
hired  or  leased,  Pointe  Baleine,  Fort  Dragon,  St.  Mary's, 
Acham's,  Herrera's,  Bourne's,  Sorzano's,  Bodu's,  Good- 
will's (two  houses),  Savary's,  Bombshell  Bay,  and  Gamble's. 
As  regards  fishing,  there  are  no  banks  of  any  importance 
roimd  Gasparil,  but  the  rock-fishing,  both  "ligne  dormante" 
and  "ligne  voyante"  is  often  fairly  good,  while  from  the  end 
of  April  on  to  July,  the  sport  that  can  be  obtained  with 
trolling  lines  is  excellent,  as  during  that  season,  cavalli,  king- 
fish,  tarpon,  bonite  and  large  mackerel  are  nearly  always 
beating  in  shoals  at  or  near  Pointe  Baleine.  Before  leaving 
the  Bocas,  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  three  fishing  grounds 
within  a  few  hours  row  or  sail  of  the  islands.     As  far  as  my 


l8  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

personal  knowledge  extends,  incomparably  the  best  trolling 
to  be  had,  is  during  the  months  of  July,  August  and  Septem- 
ber, when  the  king-fish  are  biting  off  Cape  La  Pefia,  the 
northeast  point  of  that  part  of  the  Venezuelan  mainland, 
nearest  to  Trinidad.  It  is  quite  possible,  and  even  easy,  to 
leave  headquarters  at  the  Islands  at  i  a.  m.,  in  a  good  pirogue 
with  four  oars  (sail  to  use  if  there  is  a  breeze) ,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  falling  tide,  and  reach  La  Peiia  at  6  a.  m. 
You  can  then  troll  until  lo  a.  m.,  by  which  time  you  will 
have  got  all  you  want  in  more  ways  than  one,  as  your  hands 
and  arms  will  tell  you.  The  king-fish  there  average  from 
30  lbs.  to  50  lbs.  and  often  larger;  they  fight  very  hard,  so 
you  must  have  strong  tackle  and  a  good  wrist,  not  forgetting 
tough  fingers.  Leave  La  Pefia  with  the  rising  tide,  and  you 
can  get  back  home  between  3  p.  m.  and  4  p.  m.  The  Bocas 
fishermen  at  this  season  go  to  La  Peiia  for  a  week  or  ten  days 
at  a  time,  camping  out  on  the  rocks,  fishing,  and  salting  as 
fast  as  they  catch,  often  returning  with  500  lbs.  to  1,000  lbs. 
of  salted  fish,  locally  called  "tassard  sale."  This  is  eagerly 
bought  up  in  Port  of  Spain  for  local  consumption. 

Another  good  trolling  ground  from  June  to  August  is 
from  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Monos  Boca,  Pointe  Rouge, 
down  the  Trinidad  Coast,  going  eastward  past  Trou  Tazar  to 
Macqueripe  Bay,  for  king-fish,  mackerel  and  cavalli,  but  the 
fish  do  not  run  nearly  as  large  as  at  La  Pefia.  This  trip  can 
be  made  in  a  morning,  leaving  early  and  returning  for  break- 
fast. 

The  third  fishing  ground  is  round  the  island  of  Patos  in 
the  Grand  Boca,  belonging  to  Trinidad,  but  just  under  the 
nose  of  Venezuela's  latest  port,  Cristobal  Colon.  In  the 
dry  season  particularly,  fine  red  snapper  fishing  can  be 
obtained  on  the  banks  there. 


TACKLE  AND  MODES  OF  FISHING 

Presumably,  most  angling  visitors  from  the  North  will 
fish  with  rod  and  reel.  There  are  two  or  three  regular 
visitors  to  the  Bocas  from  Port  of  Spain,  who  always  fish 
with  rod  and  get  fair  sport,  but,  although  I  have  a  rod  and 


BULMER'S  BAY, 
Chacachacare. 


VIEW  OF  THE   BOCA   FROM   CHACACHACARE 


SEA   FISHING   IM    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  19 

sometimes  fish  with  it  I  prefer  the  hand  hne,  particularly 
for  trolling,  and  I  put  that  down  to  the  fact  that,  having 
trolled  almost  every  day  for  the  past  three  years,  my  fingers 
have  got  so  much  attuned  or  so  much  in  touch  with  the  line, 
that  I  can  tell  by  the  feel  what  fish  I  have  hooked  a  few 
seconds  after  he  has  been  struck,  and  the  game  fish  have 
nearly  all  separate  and  characteristic  movements,  and  as  I 
fish  with  comparatively  light  tackle  this  necessitates  skill. 
I  know  that  the  rod  angler  affects  to  look  with  contempt  on 
the  hand-liner — says  there  is  no  skill  required,  merely  a  puUy- 
hauly  affair,  etc.,  but  I  have  as  an  authority  John  Bicker- 
dyke,  the  famous  English  angling  expert,  who  says,  "  playing 
a  fish  is  a  matter  of  hands,  and  really  expert  hand-liners  are 
able  to  play  a  fish  hooked  on  fine  tackle,  skilfully  and  care- 
fully with  their  hands,  just  as  the  fresh- water  angler  can  by 
means  of  a  rod."  It  must  be  also  recognized,  that  whereas 
the  rod-angler  is  generally  well  pleased  with  a  bag  of  fish 
running  from  ^  lb.  to  5  lbs.,  the  hand-liner  in  these  waters 
requires  from  10  lbs.  to  30  lbs.  to  arouse  enthusiasm.  Cha- 
ciin  a  son  gozit.  For  bottom-fishing  in  shallow  banks,  the 
use  of  the  rod  and  reel  will  be  found  advantageous,  but 
where  the  currents  are  strong  and  the  banks  thirty  to  fifty 
fathoms  deep,  the  hand-line  is  preferable,  as  it  will  be  found 
very  tedious,  in  fact  almost  impossible,  to  reel  up  a  big  fish 
from  these  depths.  Hooking  and  bringing  up  a  large  grouper 
would  be  something  like  performing  the  operation  with  a 
grand  piano.  The  tarpon,  king-fish,  cavalli,  barracouta, 
bonita,  and  mackerel,  are  generally  fished  for  with  trolling 
lines,  much  the  same  process  as  "  whiffling"  in  England,  only 
instead  of  using  gut,  gimp,  snooding,  and  leads,  the  hook  is 
gauged  on  to  about  60  feet  of  flexible  brass  wire,  and  this  is 
fastened  on  to  a  line  which  is  balled  up  and  placed  at  the 
fisherman's  feet  (who  sits  in  the  stern  of  the  boat).  A  small 
sardine  or  sprat  is  fixed  on  the  hook,  and  as  the  rower  propels 
the  boat  at  top  speed,  the  fisherman  lets  out  the  whole  of  the 
wire  (taking  care  that  it  does  not  kink),  and  from  15  ft.  to 
25  ft.  of  the  line.  Having  paid  out  this  80  ft.  of  line  he  keeps 
it  moving  swiftly  with  his  arm  and  awaits  eventualities. 

Trolling  with  rod  and  line  can  be  done  advantageously, 


20  .  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

but  I  should  Strongly  advise  the  angler  in  place  of  the  gimp 
and  steel  wire  arrangements  he  will  probably  bring  out,  to 
fix  his  hook  on  to  at  least  five  fathoms  of  22  brass  wire  (fish- 
ing king-fish  he  will  require  8),  and  this  he  can  tie  on  to  his 
reel-line  whether  silk  or  linen,  both  of  which  I  have  found 
very  good  in  these  waters  if  carefully  washed  and  dried  after 
using.  (Both  gimp  and  steel  wires  are  absolute  failures.) 
The  nimibers  of  brass  wire  generally  used  range  from  No.  18, 
the  thickest  and  strongest,  to  No.  27,  the  finest.  I  find  that 
No.  24  is  the  most  preferable  to  use  for  general  trolling,  as  it 
is  not  too  coarse  to  frighten  the  excessively  wary  mackerel, 
and  is  at  the  same  time  strong  enough  if  dexterously  handled 
to  capture  a  2  5 -lb.  cavalli  or  barracouta. 

Another  mode  of  fishing  much  in  vogue  at  the  Bocas  is 
the  "  ligne  dormante."  A  large  No.  i  hook  is  gauged  on  to  a 
piece  of  stout  No.  18  brass  wire,  about  2  ft.  long.  A  goodly 
piece  of  mackerel  or  other  tempting  bait  is  put  on  the  hook, 
the  tackles  then  attached  to  the  end  of  sixty  or  seventy 
fathoms  of  stout  line,  the  fisherman  gets  on  a  convenient 
rock  (a  favourite  site  being  the  lee  side  of  a  point  where  big 
fish  do  congregate  on  the  rising  tide),  and  the  hook  and  bait 
is  taken  out  in  the  boat,  until  the  major  portion  of  the  line  is 
paid  out,  leaving  from  fifteen  to  twenty  fathoms  for  man 
and  fish  to  play  with.  The  fish  caught  in  this  manner  are 
usually  grouper,  pargue  and  sorb  (two  species  of  red  snapper) 
and  run  from  12  lbs.  to  80  lbs.  and  over  100  lbs.  in 
weight.  The  two  last-named  fish  are  game  and  give  great 
sport,  care  and  skill  being  required  if  the  line  jams  in  one  of 
the  numerous  reefs.  Of  course  the  same  mode  of  fishing  can 
be  pursued  with  rod  and  reel,  in  fact,  I  have  caught  several 
sorb  with  the  rod,  the  largest  being  17  lbs.  weight. 
With  the  hand  line,  my  best  records  have  been,  a  red  grouper 
weighing  120  lbs.,  and  a  "  pargue-dent-chien"  of  108  lbs., 
both  caught  off  Pointe  Baleine,  Gasparillo. 

A  favourite  mode  of  "pot"  fishing,  which  can  be  prose- 
cuted at  all  seasons  and  all  tides,  with  more  or  less  success, 
is  with  the  "ligne  voyante"  or  "ligne  volante,"  and  must  be 
carried  on  in  the  boat  near  the  rocks.  For  this  you  require 
from  ten  to  twenty  fathoms  of  fine,  but  strong  line,  and  on  to 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE  BOCAS  ISLANDS  z\ 

this  you  fix  about  eighteen  inches  of  No.  22  brass  wire,  with 
a  hook  No.  6  or  No.  7  gauged  on  to  it.  Where  the  line  joins 
the  wire  a  small  piece  of  lead,  from  i  oz.  to  2  oz.  is  bent  on, 
and  the  fisherman  after  wetting  and  coiling  five  or  six  fathoms 
carefully,  casts  it  as  far  as  he  can.  Of  course  the  bait  sinks 
slowly  to  the  bottom,  but  if  fish  are  about  is  generally  seized 
or  bitten  at  before  it  touches.  The  fish  you  catch  in  this 
manner  are  small,  red-mouthed  grunts,  walliacke,  pargue, 
grouper,  etc.,  but  if  you  know  how  to  "menager"  as  the 
Creoles  term  it,  you  can  land  a  fish  of  20  lbs.  or  so.  Person- 
ally I  prefer  this  mode  of  fishing  to  banking,  as  it  is  much 
quicker  in  operation,  and  you  are  infinitely  less  troubled  by 
strong  currents.  Of  course  for  deep  sea  banking  at  depths 
of  thirty  to  fifty  fathoms,  you  must  use  the  heavy  lead  sinker 
and  hooks,  fixed,  if  you  prefer  it,  on  a  "pater  noster." 
The  marks  of  the  banks  are  well  known  to  the  boat- 
men of  the  different  islands,  but  the  best  bottom  fish, 
the  snappers,  are  very  migratory,  and  getting  good  sport  is 
rather  a  lottery. 

BAIT 

Far  and  away  the  best  bait,  especially  for  trolling,  are 
what  are  commonly  called  "sardines"  of  which  there  are 
several  varieties.  Their  local  names  in  order  of  merit  as 
fish  killers,  are : — i.  Sardines  rouges.  2.  Anchois.  3.  Sar- 
dines Dorees.  4.  Cha-Cha.  5.  Small  Coulihou.  6.  Sar- 
dines cailleux.  Of  these  the  first  two  mentioned  are  irresis- 
tible, and  with  either  on  your  trolling  line  you  must  feel  the 
surface  fish  if  there  are  any  about.  The  "sardines  rouges" 
and  "anchois"  generally  enter  the  gulf  in  large  shoals  or 
schools,  about  the  month  of  June,  beat  about  the  bays  and 
rocks  of  the  Bocas  islands  in  the  morning,  going  out  to  deep 
water  later,  and  returning  in  the  afternoon.  They  are 
generally  caught  in  small  seines  in  any  of  the  bays  that 
possess  a  convenient  beach  (free  from  large  rocks),  on  which 
the  net  can  be  hauled,  and  the  best  times  for  hauling  are  the 
early  morning  and  evening,  preferably  about  half  tide.  The 
approach  of  these  shoals  can  always  be  detected  from  afar  by 
the  quantities  of  sea-birds  that  accompany  them,  hovering 


2  2  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

over  them  screaming  and  squawking.  Then  do  these  little 
fish  pass  a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour,  as  trolling  or  surface  fish 
of  all  kinds,  especially  the  large  "camarde  cavalli,"  are 
underneath  and  feeding  merrily  on  them,  while  sharks  and 
barracouta  are  after  the  cavalli  and  mackerel.  To  escape 
their  finny  foes,  the  poor  sardines  fly  up  out  of  the  surface  of 
the  water  in  hundreds,  to  be  at  once  nailed  by  the  birds, — 
pelicans,  boobies,  gulls  of  all  kinds,  and  men-of-war  birds. 
There  is  in  particular,  a  very  persistent,  pretty  little  white 
bird,  a  kind  of  kittiwake,  locally  called  "mauve,"  which 
comes  in  flocks  during  the  anchois  season,  and  when  the 
shoal  of  fish  disappears,  sits  on  the  neighbouring  rocks  and 
watches  for  a  fresh  lot  silently,  and  you  can  always  tell  when 
the  sardines  are  coming  again,  as  these  birds  begin  to  chatter 
at  once.  Pointe  Baleine  at  Gasparil  seems  to  be  a  great 
meeting  place  for  the  surface  fish  at  this  season,  and  when 
you  see  the  rocks  round  this  point  crowded  with  these 
"mauve"  you  are  sure  of  getting  good  sport.  I  have  re- 
peatedly seen  the  surface  of  the  sea  there,  for  about  loo  yds. 
square,  churned  into  a  foam  by  the  big  cavalli  gambolling 
and  hunting  their  prey,  with  tarpon,  king-fish,  mackerel  and 
shark  literally  jammed  up  amongst  them. 

All  these  sardines  spoil  and  get  soft  in  two  or  three  hours, 
so  it  is  preferable  when  going  a  distance  like  La  Pefia,  to  get 
ballahoo,  which  will  be  found  the  best  trolling  bait.  It  is 
also  a  much  larger  fish,  and  half  of  one  of  them  cut  longitu- 
dinally, will  be  none  too  big  for  the  No.  2  hooks  used  when 
fishing  the  large  king-fish.  When  none  of  the  baits  men- 
tioned can  be  obtained,  a  strip  of  the  underneath  part  of  the 
mackerel,  locally  called  "blanc"  will  be  found  good,  as  is  also 
the  similar  part  of  the  bonite  and  mullet.  A  narrow  strip 
with  the  skin  on  must  be  used,  and  cut  to  a  triangular  point. 
For  fishing^ /a  "ligne  dormante,"  a  bunch  of  the  large  sized 
anchois,  cha-cha,  or  coulihou,  is  a  very  tempting  bait,  but  the 
small  fish  are  apt  to  bite  greedily  and  detach  them  one  by  one, 
so  I  have  generally  found  the  most  successful  lure  for  a  large 
fish  to  be  a  piece  or  pieces  of  mackerel,  bonite,  or  mullet,  and 
sufficient  thereof  to  cover  the  hook  well.  The  same  bait  is 
also  good  for  bottom  fishing  and  with  "ligne  voyante,"  and 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  23 

all  the  sardine  tribe  as  well,  good  sized  anchois  cut  up  into 
pieces  to  suit  the  ntimber  of  hook  used  taking  the  first  place. 
I  have  on  an  emergency  used  shark  flesh  successfully,  as 
well  as  other  kinds,  but  that  was  only  when  fish  were  biting 
ravenously.  In  the  months  of  October,  November  and 
December,  it  is  often  extremely  difficult  to  procure  fresh  fish 
bait,  especially  at  Huevos  and  Chacachacare.  In  this  case 
it  is  advisable  for  the  fisherman  to  dig  in  the  sand  a  few  inches 
below  the  surface  for  a  kind  of  cockle  locally  called  "  palude." 
They  can  be  found  at  Grand  Fond  at  Monos,  and  below  the 
church  at  Chacachacare.  When  taken  out  of  the  shell  and 
placed  carefully  on  the  hook,  they  make  a  most  tempting 
bait  for  fishing  with  "en  ligne  voyante,"  the  only  objection 
to  them  being,  that  they  are  easily  washed  off  the  hook,  as 
the  flesh  is  soft.  At  this  season  the  native  fishermen  often 
use  "zagaya,"  a  small  crab  found  on  the  rocks;  these  are 
broken  up,  some  thrown  in  the  water  for  ground-bait,  and 
other  pieces  put  on  the  hooks,  either  sinker-fishing  or  h  la 
' '  ligne  voyante . "  I  have  omitted  to  mention  the  shrimp  and 
prawn,  which  are  capital  bait  for  all  kinds  of  fish  and  fishing, 
and  I  have  been  very  successful  with  a  large  prawn  put  whole 
on  the  hook  for  trolling,  when  mackerel  were  beating.  The 
"cheche"or  small  squid,  which  is  occasionally  taken  in  the 
seine,  when  hauling  for  bait,  is  also  very  telling,  especially 
for  sorb  and  grouper,  and  if  the  angler  is  keen  on  shark- 
fishing,  there  is  no  bait  more  sure  than  a  piece  of  ray,  wack- 
awa,  or  devil-fish  (they  are  all  of  the  same  family),  to  entrap 
the  tiger  of  the  sea.  I  shall  now  proceed  to  the  game-fishes 
of  Trinidad,  in  (what  I  consider)  their  order  of  merit,  the 
mode  generally  pursued  by  the  angler  to  catch  them  and 
their  principal  habitat. 

GAME-FISH 

The  Cavalli  or  Carangue.  To  this  fish  I  honestly  think 
must  be  given  the  pride  of  place,  as  being  the  pluckiest  and 
most  straightforward  fighter  to  be  found  in  these  seas. 
There  are  five  well-known  varieties  here,  called  locally  the 
"carangue  camard,"   "carangue   gros-yeu:x,"   "carangue  h 


24 


SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 


plumes,"  "carangue  grasse,"  and  "carangue  France,"  and  it 
is  the  two  first  varieties  I  wish  to  specially  mention,  as  they 
are  the  largest  and  strongest.  The  "camard"  may  bite  at 
any  time  of  the  day,  but  as  a  rule  the  "gros-yeux"  is  only 
taken  in  the  early  morning  or  just  about  sundown  and  about 
an  hour  or  two  after.  As  they  are  surface  fish,  and  come 
often  to  the  top  of  the  water  to  gambol  and  hunt  sardines, 
they  are  nearly  always  fished  for  with  trolling  lines.  In 
taking  the  bait,  the  "camard"  or  "gros-yeux"  does  not 
finick  about  but  hits  it  "one  time,"  and  for  this  the  fisher 
must  be  prepared,  as  he  will  in  all  probability  take  out  twenty 
to  thirty  fathoms  of  the  slack  line  at  his  first  rush  when  he 
charges  for  the  bottom,  and  it  matters  not  if  he  gets  there  as 
he  fights  like  a  bulldog  the  whole  time,  no  getting  behind 
rocks  for  him.  He  is  now  preparing  for  a  second  rush,  but- 
ting with  his  head,  or  "  baie  tete"  as  the  Creoles  call  it.  The 
fisherman  must  keep  a  steady  but  not  too  strong  a  strain  on 
thfe  line  all  the  time,  that  is,  must  feel  him  (with  a  reel  the 
check  will  be  sufficient) .  I  f  he  feels  the  fish  softening,  haul  in , 
but  always  stand  by  for  fresh  rushes,  of  which  there  will 
probably  be  five  or  six,  and  if  you  are  a  hand-liner  and  have 
got  all  your  line  in  the  boat,  be  careful  when  you  get  on  the 
wire,  for  that  is  the  critical  time  both  for  your  fingers  and 
your  chances  of  landing  your  fish,  for  if  he  is  not  quite  ex- 
hausted he  will  make  another  rush,  the  wire  will  cut  up  your 
fingers,  Mr.  Cavalli  will  break  it,  and  then  "  Aio  Punch,"  for 
he  fights  to  the  bitter  end,  and  never  gives  in  till  practically 
drowned,  and  even  then  he  is  still  butting  with  his  head. 
He  is  such  a  gallant  fish,  and  fights  so  like  a  "  proper  gentle- 
man," that  the  true  sportsman,  though  he  hates  to  lose  him, 
must  regret  that  he  is  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat.  He  is  the 
"  Du  Guesclin"  of  Trinidad  fish.  Most  amateurs  use  gloves 
when  trolling  to  save  their  fingers  from  being  cut  by  the  wire, 
but  this  necessarily  does  away  with  their  fineness  of  touch. 
I  have  previously  referred  to  the  presence  of  the  small  bird 
called  "mauve"  being  a  sure  sign  of  cavalli.  This  refers  to 
the  "camard."  There  is  its  counterpart,  a  bird  of  similar 
size,  but  darker,  which  comes  at  dusk,  called  in  Creole '  'mache 
carabache,"   and  betokens  the  presence  of  the  carangue 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  25 

"gros-yeiix"  seen  in  large  shoals  all  round  the  Bocas  from 
April  to  October. 

The  King-Fish  or  Tasard.  This  fine  game-fish  is  very- 
near  of  kin  to  the  Calif omian  leaping  tuna,  and  may  also  be 
often  seen  jumping  out  of  the  water,  particularly  round  the 
north  coast  of  Trinidad,  where  he  abounds  at  certain  seasons. 
He  also  affords  great  sport  with  trolling  gear,  but  he  has  not 
the  bulldog  tenacity  of  the  carangue,  and  does  not  fight  as 
long.  He  is  much  wilier,  however,  in  his  tactics,  and  if  he 
begins  to  zigzag  on  the  wire,  you  need  all  your  skill  and  grit 
to  hold  him.  Unless  very  h\ingry  he  will  not  hold  on  to  the 
bait  straight  away  like  the  carangue,  but  will  play  "coquin," 
taking  little  nips  and  following  up  the  bait.  When  he  does 
hold  on  he  is  off  with  a  rush,  often  leaping  out  of  the  water 
when  he  feels  the  hook  (the  carangue  never  leaps  out  of  the 
water,  on  the  contrary,  goes  down) .  After  his  first  burst  he 
will  often  appear  to  give  up  fighting  and  resign  himself  to 
fate,  while  the  fisherman  if  he  is  a  novice  will  go  on  hauling  or 
reeling  up  his  line  into  the  boat,  and  if  he  is  a  hand-liner  the 
wire  also,  and  that  will  be  a  critical  time,  as  directly  the  king- 
fish  sees  the  boat  he  will  commence  a  series  of  rushes  both 
fore  and  aft  like  forked  lightning,  and  then  woe  betide  the 
poor  novice's  hands,  for  if  he  lets  go  the  wire,  the  fish  will 
kink  it,  no  matter  how  strong  it  be,  and  snap  it  like  a  piece  of 
pack-thread.  The  king-fish  like  the  carangue  must  be 
played  with  until  exhausted,  and  carefully  handled  when  put 
into  the  boat,  as  it  has  teeth  like  razors.  I  estimate  that  on 
light  tackle,  you  must  play  a  carangue  of  20  lbs.  to  25  lbs. 
for  half  an  hour,  and  a  king-fish  of  about  the  same  size  about 
twenty  minutes,  as  they  are  sooner  drowned.  I  have  al- 
ready mentioned  that  the  best  fishing  ground  for  king-fish  is 
off  La  Petia  on  the  Venezuelan  coast,  but  strong  tackle  is 
absolutely  necessary,  as  your  object  is  to  get  your  fish  in 
the  boat  as  quickly  as  possible,  on  account  of  the  predaceous 
fish  there,  sharks  and  barracoutas,  who  will  quickly  share 
your  prey  with  you  often  leaving  only  the  head.  From  May 
to  August  king-fish  are  fairly  plentiful  all  round  Trinidad, 
and  fine  sport  can  be  had,  particularly  on  the  north  and 
northeast  coasts  from  Macqueripe  to  Matura.     It  should  be 


26  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

also  remarked  en  passant  that  it  is  one  of  the  finest  table 
fish  in  these  waters. 

The  Tarpon  or  Grand-ecaille.  The  famous  "  Silver  King" 
as  he  is  commonly  called  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Florida  is 
very  plentiful  in  Trinidad  waters,  especially  at  the  river 
mouths,  the  rocks  and  reefs  of  the  Bocas,  and  all  points  and 
headlands  round  the  coast.  The  best  season  for  fishing 
them,  may  be  said  to  range  from  the  end  of  June  to  the  be- 
ginning of  November.  Although  I  consider  both  the  car- 
angue  and  king-fish  to  be  more  game  as  to  their  fighting  quali- 
ties than  the  tarpon,  the  latter  fish  is  far  ahead  of  the  others 
in  point  of  wiliness  and  general  cunning.  He  is  the  Machia- 
velli  of  the  finny  tribe,  his  manoeuvres  at  and  round  the  bait 
are  protean.  At  one  time  he  will  hit  the  bait  with  a  rush, 
directly  he  feels  the  hook,  executing  a  tiger-like  spring  from 
the  water  into  the  air,  in  all  probability  ejecting  the  hook  at 
first  jimip,  especially  if  it  has  taken  him  in  the  top  jaw  or 
palate  where  it  cannot  possibly  find  secure  hold  on  account  of 
the  bony  plates  there.  On  another  occasion  he  will  hit  the 
bait  with  a  similar  bang,  and  drop  it  at  once  like  a  naughty 
boy  at  a  runaway  ring  of  the  door-bell.  Other  times  he  will 
swim  round  the  bait  giving  it  occasional  little  light  tugs,  or 
more  imperceptible  sucks.  Even  when  fairly  hooked  in  the 
lower  jaw,  after  making  three  or  four  springs  in  the  air  and 
finding  them  ineffectual,  he  will  float  on  top  of  the  water 
foxing,  pretending  he  is  exhausted,  evidently  hoping  the 
fisherman  will  haul  him  in,  until  he  gets  on  the  wire  when  he 
will  make  a  fresh  rush  and  kink  it,  after  which  he  can  easily 
break  it  and  get  away.  Even  when  gaffed  and  put  in  the 
boat  he  must  be  speedily  stunned  with  a  club  or  he  will  jump 
out  again.  The  local  fisherman  have  a  proverb  to  the  effect 
that  "the  grand-ecaille  is  never  dead  until  he  is  in  the  pot." 
I  have  known  a  large  tarpon  hooked  in  Huevos  Bay,  and 
played  with  a  rod  until  the  fisherman  thought  he  was  ex- 
hausted, and  as  it  was  inconvenient  to  put  him  in  the  boat, 
the  conqueror  resolved  to  tow  him  home  to  Domus  Bay, 
Monos,  across  the  Second  Boca,  a  distance  of  at  least  a  mile 
and  a  half,  but  on  arriving  at  Domus,  when  attempting  to 
beach  him  he  actually  got  away,  although  to  all  appearances 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  27 

drowned.  A  man  may  get  fifty  bites  in  an  afternoon,  but  he 
can  consider  himself  the  favoured  of  fortune  if  he  puts  five 
fish  in  the  boat.  The  tarpon  is  ahvays  caught  with  trolling 
gear,  reel  or  hand  line,  rarely  taking  the  hook  if  any  other 
mode  of  fishing  is  pursued,  and  this  trolling  is  carried  on 
preferably  from  a  small,  fast  fishing  boat  travelling  up  and 
down  the  fishing  ground,  as  a  rule  never  more  than  a  distance 
of  50  ft.  from  the  rocks,  and  often  nearer.  The  tarpon  will 
often  bite  with  a  full  moon,  and  I  have  known  of  very  good 
work  being  done  with  large  fish  on  the  eve  of  the  full  moon 
and  for  three  or  four  nights  after,  trolling  between  the  rock 
at  the  head  of  the  First  Boca,  called  "  Dent  Ma  Taitron,"  and 
the  eastern  shore  or  rocky  cliffs  of  Monos.  A  favourite 
ground  for  tarpon  is  from  Domus  Bay,  Monos,  round  Pointe 
Courante,  and  down  the  Monos  side  of  the  Second  Boca,  as 
far  as  Pointe  k  Diable.  The  opposite  side  at  Huevos  is  also 
good,  but  as  I  have  before  stated,  tarpon  can  nearly  always 
be  felt  in  the  season  anywhere  round  the  Trinidad  Coast,  and 
at  river  mouths  like  the  Caroni,  Nariva,  and  Ortoire,  at  all 
times  and  season,  but  the  river  fish  do  not  run  nearly  as  large. 

N.  B.  Always  carry  a  harpoon  in  the  boat;  it  often  is 
indispensable  for  securing  a  big  fish. 

The  Barracouta.  This  fish,  the  pirate  of  the  seas,  also 
affords  fine  sport,  especially  if  of  large  size,  but  according  to 
my  experience  he  is  more  easily  played  out  or  drowned  than 
the  fish  I  have  just  been  writing  about.  He  is  the  possessor 
of  a  very  long  and  enormously  powerful  jaw,  so  when  fishing 
for  him,  a  large,  preferably  steel  hook  and  good  tackle, 
whether  rod  or  hand-line,  are  absolutely  necessary,  as  he 
will  take  the  bait  in  a  most  emphatic  manner,  giving  the 
hand-liner  who  is  trolling  for  him  a  nice  pair  of  blistered 
hands  by  the  rate  the  line  will  travel  through  them,  provided 
he  has  neither  gloves  nor  a  homy  epidermis.  I  have  known 
a  boat  with  two  men  rowing  hard  to  be  stopped  dead,  and 
the  troller  nearly  jerked  out  of  the  boat  by  the  first  rush  of  a 
large  barracouta.  The  most  tempting  bait  being  a  garfish 
or  large  ballahoo,  12  in.  to  15  in.  in  length,  it  can  be  under- 
stood that  a  big  hook  is  indispensable.  When  he  feels  the 
sting  he  sometimes  springs  out  of  the  water,  but  not  so  high 


2  8  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

or  often  as  the  tarpon.  After  the  first  rush,  which  is  fierce 
but  not  so  long  as  the  carangue,  he  will  sulk  and  shortly  make 
a  second  and  third  rush  in  spurts,  not  so  dogged  and  deter- 
mined as  the  carangue,  who  fights  hard  to  the  bitter  end. 
After  his  third  rush,  if  the  boatmen  pull  hard  he  will  soon  be 
exhausted  (on  account,  I  fancy,  of  his  excessively  long  jaw, 
which  must  cause  him  to  swallow  a  lot  of  water) ,  and  can  be 
gaffed,  or  if  too  large,  beached  on  the  shore.  Like  the  tar- 
pon, the  barracouta  is  always  fished  for  near  the  shore,  and 
his  best  season  is  November  and  December.  He  sometimes 
takes  the  bait  when  fishing  with  "ligne  dormante,"  but  is 
generally  caught  trolling.  Plentiful  on  the  northern  and 
eastern  coasts,  and  also  the  Bocas  Islands.  A  favourite 
ground  is  Scotland  Bay,  and  between  there  and  L'Anse  Poua 
on  the  mainland,  the  eastern  side  of  the  First  Boca.  In 
Scotland  Bay,  trolling  from  a  small  boat  with  one  boatman, 
I  hooked,  played  and  beached,  a  barracouta  8^  ft.  in  length. 

In  closing  my  description  of  fish  that  afford  good  sport  to 
the  angler  in  these  waters,  I  must  not  omit  the  "Bonite,"  a 
chunky  built  fish,  little  used  for  food,  but  greedily  looked  for 
as  bait  to  catch  other  fish.  He  is  almost  as  gamey  and 
strong  as  the  carangue,  and  puts  up  a  good  fight  on  the  troll- 
ing line;  the  "mackerel"  which  when  large,  (lo  lbs.  to  15 
lbs.),  pursues  similar  tactics  to  the  king-fish,  only  more 
"  coquin"  as  the  natives  express  it  (Anglice,  wily) .  I  know  of 
no  fish  such  a  confirmed  bait  stealer  as  the  mackerel,  the 
"  pargue-dent-chien"  which,  especially  when  of  large  size, 
affords  splendid  sport  either  to  the  man  with  the  rod  or 
"ligne  dormante,"  as  its  rushes  are  exceedingly  swift  and 
powerful,  and  lastly  the  "sorbe"  which  though  not  quite  so 
powerful  or  swift  as  the  "  pargue"  is  well  worth  the  catching. 
There  are  other  good  game  fish  such  as  the  cod  and  pompano, 
but  they  are  exceedingly  rare  and  not  often  caught. 

The  hunter  after  the  mighty  monsters  of  the  deep  will 
not  be  disappointed  in  Trinidad  waters,  as  the  Giant  Ray, 
Sea-Devil  or  Manta,  is  far  from  uncommon,  and  can  be  both 
seen  and  heard  on  most  nights  at  Pointe  Baleine,  the  western 
end  of  Gasparil.  These  huge  beasts  (often  weighing  over 
1,000  lbs.)  hurtle  themselves  out  of  the  water  to  a  height  of 


WATCHMAN'S  HOUSE 
Patos. 


(Showing  the 


LA  TINTA   BAY.  CHACACll  .\i 
intains  of  Venezuela  on  the  opposite 


the  Uoca  Crande.) 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS  ISLANDS  29 

8  ft,  or  10  ft.  with  their  bat-Hke  wings  folded  back;  these 
they  gradually  extend  as  they  come  down,  reaching  the 
water  with  a  loud  resonant  smack,  followed  by  a  boom  like 
the  meeting  of  thunder  clouds.  They  go  through  this  evolu- 
tion, I  fancy,  to  rid  themselves  of  the  parasites  with  which 
they  are  covered.  There  is  a  popular  idea  that  the  Manta 
does  this  to  kill  his  prey,  and  that  he  is  dangerous  to  man, 
will  fold  his  wings  over  him  in  the  water  and  descend  with 
him,  but  I  have  assisted  at  the  post-mortems  of  several  large 
ones,  and  never  seen  the  stomach  contain  anything  but 
sardines  and  such  small  deer.  He  is,  however,  an  awkward 
beast  to  tackle  as  he  is  immensely  powerful  and  untiring, 
and  can  haul  heavy  boats  behind  him  for  miles,  so  those  who 
hunt  him  should  have  a  powerful  steam-launch  available. 
I  saw  one  get  away  with  three  ship-boats  at  Brighton,  La 
Brea,  bristling  like  a  pincushion  with  harpoons,  and  full  of 
rifle  balls,  and  they  would  never  have  got  him  if  he  had  not 
chosen  to  beach  himself.  He  was  14  ft.  across  and  probably 
weighed  close  on  2,000  lbs.  Sharks,  sword-fish,  saw-fish,  and 
two  kinds  of  porpoise  locally  called  "marsouen  blanc"  (the 
small  one)  and  "marsouen  canal,"  weighing  about  three 
quarters  of  a  ton,  are  plentiful,  so  the  harpooner  with  a  stout 
pirogue  and  four  good  oars  can  get  plenty  of  fun. 

In  the  months  of  February  and  March  the  Gulf  of  Paria  is 
invaded  by  a  huge  army,  millions  in  fact,  of  jelly-fish  of  the 
genus  "Physalia,"  locally  called  "galere,"  and  these  are  the 
favourite  food  of  the  spade-fish,  known  in  Trinidad  as  the 
"paoua"  and  much  esteemed  as  a  table-fish  in  the  United 
States.  The  island  fishermen  angle  eagerly  for  them  in  the 
following  manner.  Half  a  dozen  hooks,  Nos.  6  or  7,  gauged 
with  fishing  line,  are  fastened  in  a  bunch  on  a  two  foot  length 
of  No.  20  brass  wire,  which  is  fixed  on  to  a  fishing  line.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  that  the  Paoua  bites  at  a  depth  of  three 
to  four  fathoms  from  the  surface,  so  a  lead  pliimmet  or 
sinker  about  i  lb.  weight,  is  fixed  parallel  to  the  wire 
and  hooks.  Galere  for  bait  are  caught  when  floating  on  the 
sea  with  a  small  hand-net,  a  pointed  stick,  or  even  with  the 
hand.  They  are  circular  in  shape  and  have  a  saucer-like 
edge,  so  the  hooks  are  passed  through  the  jelly-like  flesh 


30 


SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 


almost  equidistantly,  and  the  bait  is  then  lowered  into  the 
sea  the  requisite  depth,  the  weight  of  the  lead  keeping  it 
there.  A  favourite  spot  is  the  leeside  of  a  point,  near  the 
rocks  and  where  the  current  is  fairly  strong,  and  they  gener- 
ally bite  either  after  the  full  tide,  when  it  commences  to  fall, 
though  outside  the  Bocas  it  is  often  vice  versa.  These 
"paoua"  come  in  large  schools,  and  their  presence  can  be 
easily  detected  by  numbers  of  them  often  rising  and  beating 
on  top  of  the  water.  When  they  commence  biting,  they  do 
so  ravenously,  and  the  fishermen  out  for  a  livelihood  not 
infrequently  put  out  four  lines,  one  in  each  hand  and  one 
tied  to  each  big  toe.  Sometimes  a  man  will  be  seen  strug- 
gling with  three  fish  at  once,  and  this  is  a  very  amusing  sight, 
especially  as  he  will  be  in  a  tremendous  hurry  to  let  go  the 
slip  knot  off  his  toe.  Favourite  spots  for  "paoua"  fishing 
near  the  Bocas  in  the  season,  are,  the  leesides  of  Pointe 
Courante  at  Monos,  Pointe  Rouge  the  northeast  point  of  the 
First  Boca,  and  near  the  Parasol  Rock  in  the  Second  Boca. 
The  point  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Cronstadt,  the  Doctor's 
island,  is  also  good. 

A  word  about  two  distinct  specialties  of  the  north- 
western fishing  region,  the  Bocas  negro,  and  the  "remous": 
the  former  is  "  sui  generis"  indubitably  ignorant,  superstitious 
and  lazy,  faults  of  the  conditions  under  which  he  was  reared, 
and  probably  too  much  of  the  "gentle  life"  described  so 
graphically  by  Canon  Kingsley.  His  mode  of  life,  dependent 
almost  entirely  on  the  caprices  of  Ocean  and  her  finny  in- 
habitants, naturally  predisposes  him  to  be  supine  and  indo- 
lent, save  when  the  magic  shout  "carangue  ka  bat"(cavalli 
are  beating)  is  raised.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  fairly  honest, 
of  kindly  and  cheerful  disposition,  particularly  to  women 
and  children,  and  although  when  he  occasionally  gets  hold  of 
of  rum  he  may  be  like  "Thompson,  the  hero  of  Angels," 
frightfully  drunk,  yet  he  is  always  polite  to  the  stranger. 
When  the  fish  are  on  the  move  or  bite,  he  is  a  thorough 
sportsman,  and  spares  not  himself  in  the  interests  of  the 
game.  He  is  a  hardy  mariner  and  knows  all  the  currents 
(which  are  swift  and  dangerous),  and  rocks  of  his  native 
islets,  and  it  is  on  account  of  this  knowledge  that  he  is  indis- 


SEA   FISHING   IN    THE   BOCAS   ISLANDS  31 

pensable.  A  strange  boatman  would  be  at  sea,  in  more 
senses  than  one,  for  a  considerable  period  at  the  Bocas. 

Now  for  the  "remous."  It  must  be  remembered  that 
there  is  the  sweep  of  two  contrary  currents  along  the  coast, 
which  have  their  conflict  in  the  bay,  opposite  Port  of  Spain. 
The  currents  are  made  up  of  the  resultants  between  the  tides 
of  the  sea,  the  Orinoco  currents,  and  the  Caroni  current. 
When  the  tide  is  ebbing,  a  current  sweeps  along  the  coast 
from  the  Serpent's  mouth  towards  Port  of  Spain,  and  seeks 
an  outlet  through  the  Bocas,  into  the  open  sea.  But  when 
the  tide  rises,  a  contrary  current  from  outside  the  Bocas 
forces  them  back  to  the  eastward ;  and  there  is  a  moment, 
when  the  mutually  opposed  currents  are  equalized.  It  is  at 
this  moment,  just  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and  the  approaching  rise, 
that  the  famous  boiling  of  the  waters,  called  the  "remous," 
takes  place,  afterwards  the  Bocas  currents  assert  suprem- 
acy until  the  tide  begins  to  ebb.  At  this  time  it  is  only 
those  who  have  faced  the  Maelstrom  of  Pointe  Girod,  or  the 
Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  Pointe  Courante,  who  can  fully 
appreciate  the  force  of  the  currents,  and  the  skill  of  those  who 
navigate  them. 

For  the  sporting  tourist,  no  finer  or  more  complete  change 
can  be  found  from  the  cold  grey  winters  of  Europe  and 
America,  than  that  offered  by  the  Bocas  islands,  lapped  by 
the  stimmer  seas,  whereon  he  can  lead  the  aforesaid  "  gentle 
life"  as  depicted  by  Charles  Kingsley  in  "At  Last,"  exhila- 
rated with  the  chase  of  the  "  Silver  King,"  A  fine,  dry  cli- 
mate, warm  it  is  true,  but  not  any  hotter  and  far  healthier 
than  Florida  (the  great  resort  of  the  tarpon  fisher  both  Eng- 
lish and  American) ;  inexpressibly  finer  scenery  than  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  can  show,  and  from  June  to  November  plenty 
of  tarpon.  The  north  coast  of  Trinidad  is  simply  teeming 
with  fish  the  year  round,  but  as  I  have  said  before  there  is  no 
living  accommodation  for  tourists  ashore,  so  for  at  all  events 
some  time  to  come,  their  "  point  d'appui"  must  be  the  Bocas 
Islands. 


THE  SEA  FISH  OF  TRINIDAD,  FROM  AN 

ECONOMIC  POINT  OF  VIEW, 

AS  SEA-FOOD 


CHACACHACARI-:   LICHTHOUSli 


Part  II 

THE  SEA  FISH  OF  TRINIDAD,  FROM  AN 

ECONOMIC  POINT  OF  VIEW, 

AS  SEA-FOOD 


Total  weight  of  -fish  weighed  at  the  Port  of  Spain  Fish-Market  for 
the  twelve  months  ending  December  t^i ,  1908 

MONTH  WEIGHT 

January 96,464  lbs. 

February 98,922 

March 97,166 

April 94,448 

May 142,128 

June 172,881 

July 154,842 

August 142,856 

September 138,701 

October 1 28,790 

November 153,384 

December 107,374 


Total 1,527,956  lbs. 

or  an  average  of  4,186  lbs.  per  diem.  All  fish  coming  to  Port  of 
Spain  by  sea  has  to  be  weighed  and  passed  through  the  Fish- 
Market.  A  certain  quantity  is,  however,  brought  daily  from 
Carenage,  Macqueripe,  etc.,  by  hucksters  and  "marchands"  on 
land,  probably  bringing  up  the  daily  consumption  to  an  average 
of  5,000  lbs. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  preceding  table  that  the  average 
daily  consumption  of  fresh  fish  in  Port  of  Spain  is  approxi- 
mately 5,000  lbs.,  and  this,  allowing  the  population  of  the 
town  to  be  between  50,000  and  60,000,  is  rather  a  small 
allowance,  and  all  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  ordinary  citizen 
has  to  pay  too  dearly  for  his  breakfast,  or  dinner,  fish. 


36  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Bocas,  during  the  months  of  June, 
July  and  August,  the  fishermen  frequently  capture  in  their 
seines  schools  of  fish  ranging  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand 
pounds  weight,  chiefly  "cavalli"  and  "paoua,"  and  these 
they  can  keep  alive  for  some  days  in  the  seine,  hauling  the 
ends  ashore  and  mooring  the  back  of  the  bag  or  purse  to  a 
boat  anchored  out.  Very  often  there  will  be  six  or  more  boat 
loads  (large  pirogues  holding  2,500  lbs.  each)  captured,  but 
the  fishermen  only  take  out  a  boat-load  at  a  time  for  trans- 
mission to  market;  if  they  take  more  they  will  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  ring  of  "middle-men"  who  will  force  them  to 
accept  their  offer  or  jettison  their  cargo,  which  necessarily 
becomes  quickly  unsaleable  after  the  sun  gets  up.  The 
seine  crew  sell  their  fish  to  the  middle-men  at  prices  ranging 
from  $2.00  to  $4.00  per  100  lbs.,  (on  an  average),  so  they  do 
not  make  an  exorbitant  profit;  but  the  aforesaid  ordinary 
citizen  has  to  pay  almost  invariably  from  10  cents  to  12  cents 
per  pound,  so  there  must  be  a  screw  loose  somewhere.  Such 
an  important  article  of  diet  to  the  masses  in  a  sea-port  town 
as  fresh  fish,  should  certainly  be  more  within  the  reach  of 
their  limited  purse  than  it  now  is,  and  for  that  purpose  alone 
it  would  be  highly  advisable  that  a  Sea-fishery  Commission 
of  some  sort  should  be  appointed  to  look  into  and  deal  with 
the  matter.  With  the  experiences  of  Jamaica  before  us,  as 
so  ably  described  by  Mr.  Duerden,  the  Bocas  fishing  grounds 
would  be  in  the  main  impracticable  for  trawling  on  account 
of  the  rocky  bottom  and  reefs,  but  there  seems  no  reason  why 
good  work  should  not  be  achieved  by  a  fast  steam  trawler  in 
the  Gulf  going  south  from  Port  of  Spain  to  Cedros,  in  fact 
to  any  port  where  there  is  no  rocky  bottom  to  cut  up  the 
trawl.  The  main  requisites  would  be  quick  despatch  and 
plenty  of  ice.  The  long-line  fishery,  where  miles  of  line  are 
put  out  with  thousands  of  hooks,  would  be  unsuccessful  on 
account  of  the  quantities  of  predaceous  fish  that  obtain  in 
these  waters.  The  fact  that  our  supply  of  sea-food  depends 
entirely  on  the  desultory  efforts  of  a  very  poor  section  of  our 
population,  and  that  there  is  no  amalgamation  of  capital 
with  labour,  is  a  great  impediment  to  the  development  of  an 
industry  which  ought  to  be  one  of  our  chief  resources. 


THE   SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD   AS   SEA-FOOD  37 

The  waters  round  Trinidad  are  teeming  with  edible  fish, 
and  their  exploitation  conducted  in  an  intelligent  manner 
should  be  productive  of  the  best  results,  not  only  in  ensuring 
a  cheap  and  plentiful  supply  of  good  food  for  the  masses,  but 
also  excellent  profits  to  the  prosecutors  of  the  industry. 
By  the  Trade  Returns  for  the  year  ending  March  31,  1908,  I 
note  we  imported  over  ;^8o,ooo  in  salted  and  smoked  fish, 
principally  from  Canada,  but  I  also  see  there  was  close  upon 
;£5,ooo  expended  in  salted  fish  imported  from  Venezuela, 
and  this  must  have  been  mainly  for  salted  king-fish  and 
mackerel,  both  which  fish  abound  in  our  seas.  For  the  past 
few  years  I  have  been  gathering  information  from  people 
engaged  in  the  fishing  industries  of  Great  Britain  as  to  the 
cost  of  boats,  gear,  etc.,  for  steam-trawls,  and  have  much 
pleasure  in  transcribing  these  notes  here  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  may  take  an  active  interest  in  developing  our  sea- 
food resources,  for  which  I  estimate  a  working  capital  of 
$20,000  to  $30,000  would  be  ample.  One  estimate  I  re- 
ceived for  a  steam  trawler  reads  as  follows : — 

"  She  is  Clyde  built  and  practically  new.     Hull  of  wood. 
Frames  natural  crook  oak.  Keel  10  in. x6  in.  of  elm.  Planking 
in  three  thicknesses  (diagonal)  two  of  teak  and  one  mahogany 
above  elm  below.     Yellow  metal  fastening.     62  ft.  over  all, 
51  ft.  6  in.  BP  by  12  ft.  6  in.  beam.     7  ft.  deep.     Draws  5  ft. 
aft,  3  ft.  forward.     New  twin-screw  engines. 
Two  5i"  cylinders  8"  stroke 
"     10" 
New  horizontal  Return  Tube  boiler  6  ft.  x  6  ft.  for  100  lbs. 
working  pressure.     Speed  10  knots.     Bunkers  for  12  tons. 
Bums  8  to  12  cwt.  for  24  hrs.     Forecastle  for  three  men  and 
berth  for  one  in  Engine  Room.     The  Cabin  8  ft.  x  10  ft.  to 
sleep  6  hands.     After  Cabin  to  sleep  4,  pantry,  lavatory,  etc., 
small  deck-house.     Steam  windlass.     2   masts.     Schooner 
rig.     Cutwater  bow.     6  ft.  head-room  under  cabin  beams. 

Price £1600 

Complete  Trawl  Gear £  200" 

I  also  received  an  estimate  from  an  experienced  master 
regarding  the  cost  of  bringing  out  the  vessel  from  the  Clyde 


38  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

to  Trinidad.  The  cost  without  insurance  would  be  about 
£4$°,  covering  wages  for  i  master,  i  mate,  i  cook-steward, 
3  seamen,  2  engineers,  and  3  firemen,  with  their  food,  all 
deck  and  engine-room  stores,  nautical  instniments  and 
charts,  and  coals,  with  port  charges  at  ports  of  call,  and  also 
return  fares  if  any.  The  insurance  would  vary  from  £5 .  5s.  to 
£j.  7s.,  roughly  £100,  according  to  the  time  of  the  year  for 
bringing  her  out.  An  experienced  trawling  captain  could 
be  engaged  for  about  ;^20  a  month,  an  experienced  fish- 
curer  for  about  half  that  amount,  and  arrangements  could 
probably  be  made  to  get  them  out  as  part  of  the  crew  to  save 
their  food  and  wages  out,  but  the  trawler  captain  would  not 
do  for  taking  the  steamer  out.  I  think  it  would  be  advisable, 
at  all  events  for  the  inauguration  of  the  industry,  to  have 
two  experienced  hands,  one  for  the  trawl  and  the  other  for 
the  curing. 

As  I  consider  fishing  with  a  beam-trawl  would  in  all 
probability  be  the  most  successful  mode  of  supplying  the 
Trinidad  market,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  at  present 
making  a  precarious  living  as  toilers  of  the  sea,  I  here  ap- 
pend a  short  description  of  one  as  used  in  British  waters,  for 
which  I  am  indebted  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

"  The  beam-trawl  may  be  simply  described  as  a  triangular 
flat,  purse-shaped  net,  with  the  mouth  extended  by  a  horizontal 
wooden  beam,  which  is  raised  a  short  distance  from  the 
ground  by  means  of  two  iron  frames  or  heads,  one  at  each 
end,  the  upper  part  of  the  mouth  being  fastened  to  the  beam, 
and  the  under  portion  dragging  on  the  ground  as  the  net  is 
towed  over  the  bottom.  The  beam  of  course,  varies  in 
length  according  to  the  size  of  the  net,  and  depends  to  some 
extent  also  on  the  length  and  power  of  the  vessel  which  has 
to  work  it.  In  the  larger  '  smacks'  or  trawl  boats,  the  beam 
ranges  from  36  ft.  to  50  ft.  in  length,  and  there  is  hardly  any- 
thing less  than  this  now  used  by  the  deep-sea  trawlers. 
When  the  trawl  is  being  hoisted  in,  the  first  part  of  the 
apparatus  taken  on  board  is  the  large  heavy  beam,  and  this 
is  very  commonly  done  when  the  vessel  is  rolling  and  pitch- 
ing about  in  a  sea-way.  It  is  therefore  necessary  for  the 
sake  of  safety  that  the  beam  should  be  secured  as  soon  as 


320  LH.    GROUPER  CAUGHT   AT   BRIGHTON    PIER,   LA    HREA. 


212   LP,    GROUPER  CAUGHT  OFF    BRIGHTON    PII:R.   LA    HREA. 


THE   SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD   AS   SEA-FOOD  39 

possible,  and  in  such  a  position  as  to  be  out  of  the  way,  and 
at  the  same  time  conveniently  placed  for  lowering  again 
when  required.  All  this  may  be  easily  effected  by  having 
the  beam  of  such  a  length  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
vessel  that  when  hoisted  up  one  end  of  it  may  come  over  the 
taffrail,  with  the  iron  head  just  clear  outside,  and  the  fore 
end  in  front  of  one  of  the  shrouds.  The  object  and  use  of  the 
beam  is  to  extend  the  mouth  of  the  net,  but  in  order  to  allow 
room  for  the  fish  to  enter,  the  beam,  and  with  it  the  back  of 
the  net  which  is  laced  to  it,  must  be  raised  a  certain  distance 
from  the  ground.  For  this  purpose  the  beam  is  fastened  at 
each  end  to  the  top  of  an  iron  frame,  shaped  somewhat 
like  an  irregularly  formed  stirrup,  which  is  fitted  to  it  at  right 
angles  by  a  square  socket  at  the  top.  By  these  '  heads  '  or 
'irons,'  the  beam  is  supported  at  a  height  of  nearly  3  ft. 
from  the  groimd,  and,  contrary  to  the  popular  idea  on  the 
subject,  never  touches  the  bottom.  The  lower  part  of  the 
trawl-head  or  iron  is  straight  and  flat,  just  like  the  corre- 
sponding part  of  a  stirrup.  It  is  called  the  'shoe'  and  is  the 
part  which  slides  over  the  ground  as  the  trawl  beam  and 
following  net  are  towed  along.  We  now  have  the  long  beam 
supported  at  each  end  by  a  more  or  less  strirup-shaped  iron 
fitted  at  right  angles.  The  next  thing  to  be  considered  is  the 
net.  When  the  net  is  spread  out  in  the  manner  it  would  be 
when  working,  the  upper  part  or  back  has  its  straight  front 
edge  fastened  to  the  beam,  but  the  corresponding  lower  part 
or  belly  is  cut  away  in  such  a  manner  that  the  front  margin 
forms  a  deep  curve  extending  from  the  shoe  of  one  trawl- 
head  to  the  other,  the  centre  of  the  curve,  or  bosom  as  it  is 
called,  being  at  a  considerable  distance  behind  the  beam. 
This  lower  edge  of  the  mouth  of  the  trawl  is  fastened  to  and 
protected  by  the  'ground-rope,'  which  is  made  of  an  old 
hawser  'rounded'  or  covered  with  small  rope  to  keep  it  from 
chafing  and  to  make  it  heavier.  The  ends  of  the  ground- 
rope  are  fastened  at  each  side  by  a  few  turns  round  the  back 
of  the  trawl-heads,  just  above  the  shoe,  and  the  rope  itself 
rests  on  the  ground  throughout  its  entire  curve.  The  fish 
which  may  be  disturbed  by  it,  have,  therefore,  no  chance  of 
escape  at  either  the  sides  or  back  of  the  net,  and  as  the  outlet 


40 


SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 


under  the  beam  is  a  long  way  past  them,  and  is  steadily 
moving  on,  their  fate  is  sooner  or  later  decided  by  their  pass- 
ing over  the  groimd-rope  and  finding  their  way  into  the 
funnel-shaped  end  of  the  net,  from  which  a  small  valve  of 
netting  prevents  their  return.  The  ground-rope  is  the  part 
which  directly  bears  on  the  ground,  and  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  the  fish  passing  under  it,  the  rope  should  have  some 
weight  in  it  so  as  to  '  bite'  well,  or  press  the  ground  closely. 
It  is,  however,  always  made  of  old  material,  so  that  it  may 
break  in  case  of  getting  foul  of  rocks  or  other  obstructions  as 
may  be  met  with  on  the  generally  smooth  ground,  where  the 
trawl  can  only  be  worked  with  advantage.  If  in  such  a  con- 
tingency the  rope  were  so  strong  and  good  as  not  to  break, 
there  would  be  serious  danger  of  the  tow-rope  snapping,  and 
then  the  whole  apparatus  might  be  lost;  but  the  ground- 
rope  giving  way  enables  the  net  to  be  cleared  and  hauled  up. 
The  remaining  part  of  the  trawl,  extending  from  the  bosom 
to  the  extreme  end,  forms  a  complete  bag,  gradually  dimin- 
ishing in  breadth  to  within  about  the  last  lo  ft.,  which  part  is 
called  the  'cod'  or  purse,  and  is  closed  by  a  draw-rope  or 
'cod-line'  at  the  extremity  when  the  net  is  being  used. 
This  is  the  general  receptacle  for  the  various  fishes  which 
enter  the  net,  and  when  the  trawl  is  hauled  up  and  got  on 
board  the  vessel,  the  draw-rope  is  cast  off  and  the  fish  all  fall 
out  on  the  deck. 

"The  meshes  of  an  ordinary  deep-sea  trawl  vary  in  size  in 
different  parts  of  the  net,  diminishing  from  4  sq.  ins.  near  the 
mouth  to  I  i  in.  in  the  cod  or  purse.  The  under  part  of  the 
net,  being  exposed  to  more  wear  and  chafing  than  the  upper, 
is  usually  made  with  stouter  twine,  and  the  purse  being  espe- 
cially liable  to  injury  from  being  dragged  over  the  ground 
with  a  weight  of  fish  and  perhaps  stones,  has  some  protection 
provided  by  layers  of  old  netting  called  'rubbing  pieces' 
laced  to  its  under  surface." 

A  deep-sea  trawl,  such  as  now  has  been  described,  is  there- 
fore an  immense  bag-net,  the  largest  size  being  about  50  ft. 
the  mouth  and  about  100  ft.  long.  The  trawl  is  towed  over 
the  ground  by  the  trawl  warp,  generally  a  6  in.  rope,  150 
fathoms  long,  and  made  up  of  two  lengths  of  75  fathoms  each 


THE  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD  AS  SEA-FOOD  41 

spliced  together;  one  end  of  this  warp  is  shackled  to  two 
other  pieces,  each  15  fathoms  long,  and  called  the  "  spans"  or 
"bridles,"  which  lead  one  to  each  end  of  the  beam,  and  are 
shackled  to  swivel-bolts  in  front  of  the  iron  heads,  so  as  to 
give  a  firm  pull  on  the  whole  apparatus. 

There  is  a  belief  prevalent  amongst  the  fishing  folk  here, 
that  steam-trawling  would  soon  exhaust  all  the  grounds,  but 
this  is  erroneous,  as  for  some  time  at  all  events  there  would  be 
but  one  steam-trawl.  At  Brixham  in  Devonshire,  where 
trawling  is  believed  to  have  originated,  and  fishing  has  al- 
ways been  the  chief  industry,  one  particular  fishing  ground, 
practically  about  twenty  miles  long  and  from  three  to  eight 
miles  from  land,  has  been  worked  steadily  for  over  a  hundred 
years,  and  yet  there  is  no  sign  of  the  ground  being  exhausted ; 
in  fact  it  has  never  been  so  prosperous  as  in  the  past  few 
years. 

The  trawler  would  also  have  to  be  provided  with  "  drift- 
nets"  and  "stow-nets."  The  "drift-net"  in  its  use  corre- 
sponds to  what  is  locally  called  a  "  fillet"  but  it  is  worked  in 
a  more  intelligent  manner  in  British  seas.  The  essential 
principle  of  the  working  of  the  "drift-net"  is  that  it  forms 
a  long  wall  or  barrier  of  netting,  hanging  for  a  few  fathoms 
perpendicularly  in  the  water,  but  extending  a  great  length 
horizontally,  and  that  the  surface  fish  meeting  these  nets, 
and  trying  to  pass,  become  meshed,  that  is,  get  their  heads 
and  gills  in  the  meshes  of  the  net,  from  which  they  cannot 
withdraw,  their  gill-covers  being  caught.  This  system  of 
fishing  is  generally  prosecuted  at  night.  The  "stow-net" 
used  from  the  trawler,  ought  to  be  particularly  successful 
with  shoal-fish  like  "jacks"  and  "anchois",  etc.  It  is  the 
same  mode  as  followed  in  the  sprat  fisheries  in  England. 
Long-lining,  which  consists  of  coils  of  line  7,200  fathoms,  or 
nearly  eight  miles  long,  and  with  nearly  5,000  hooks  fastened 
on  snoods  i  ^  fathoms  apart,  I  am  afraid  would  not  answer 
on  account  of  the  predaceous  fish,  but  the  trawler  would 
have  to  carry  hand-lines,  as  some  of  the  choicest  table-fish, 
to  wit,  the  "vivanot  joUe  bleu"  can  only  be  caught  on  the 
deep-sea  bottom,  where  nets  cannot  reach.  The  trawl  would 
have  to  carry  plenty  of  ice  to  keep  the  fish  fresh,  the  "well" 


42  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

for  keeping  them  alive  being  practically  abandoned  in  the 
Northern  fisheries,  as  experience  has  shown  that  in  a  well  the 
large  fish  smother  each  other. 

It  will  be  seen  by  these  notes  that  a  steam-trawler  of 
good  capacity  can  be  brought  out  here,  ready  for  action  and 
fully  equipped  for  about  twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  I  see 
no  reason  why  the  venture  should  not  be  a  profitable  one  and 
at  the  same  time  supply  the  Colony  with  good  fresh  fish  at 
six  cents  per  pound.  The  curing  of  fish  would  be  a  matter 
for  after  consideration,  but  from  personal  experiments,  I  am 
satisfied  that  the  "king-fish,"  "mackerel"  and  "jack-fish" 
could  when  cured  be  made  a  very  tasty  article  of  diet. 


CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF  THE  TRINIDAD 
SEA-FISHES 


Part  III 

CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF  THE  TRINIDAD 
SEA-FISHES 

Food  Fishes 85  species 

Not  used  for  food 31        " 

Total 116 


N.  B. — Fishes  of  superior  quality  are  marked  Ai.    Fishes  of  good 
quality  are  marked  B.     Fishes  of  inferior  quality  are  marked  C. 


46 


SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 


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CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF   THE   TRINIDAD  SEA-FISHES       53 


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A  TRIP  TO  THE  CAVES  OF  CASPAR 
GRANDE 


Part  IV 

A  TRIP  TO  THE  CAVES  OF  CASPAR 
GRANDE 

"  Through  caverns  measureless  to  man, 
Down  to  a  sunless  sea." 

KuBLA  Khan — Coleridge. 

Amongst  the  natural  beauties  of  Trinidad,  abounding  as 
it  is  in  scenes  of  tropical  loveliness,  the  caves  of  Gaspar 
Grande,  commonly  called  Gasparil,  should  surely  hold  a 
prominent  place.  They  are  situated  at  Pointe  Baleine,  the 
western  extremity  of  Gasparil,  immediately  facing  the  First 
Boca  or  Boca  del  Mono,  on  lands  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  B. 
Todd,  which  have  been  turmelled  through  by  Dame  Nature 
in  a  most  wonderful  manner,  and  offer  to  the  eye  a  marvel- 
lous exposition  of  stalactite  and  stalagmite,  basaltic  pillar 
and  crystal  column.  With  the  exception  of  some  families 
who  periodically  visit  the  Bocas  Islands  for  a  holiday,  on 
sea-bathing  and  fresh  air  intent,  these  picturesque  phenomena 
are  unknown  to  both  Trinidad  inhabitants  and  foreign 
visitors.  The  few  American  and  English  tourists  whom  I 
have  met,  after  braving  the  descent,  have  expressed  them- 
selves as  being  both  surprised  and  delighted,  one  lady  going 
so  far  as  to  say  that  she  had  seen  nothing  in  Europe  to  com- 
pare with  them,  not  even  at  the  far-famed  Capri ;  and  much 
wonderment  has  been  expressed  that  a  scene  at  once  so 
unique  and  beautiful  should  have  been  practically  unknown 
for  so  long  a  period.  They  can  be  reached  very  easily,  as  the 
Gulf  steamer  from  Port  of  Spain  comes  to  St.  Mary's,  the 
bay-house  immediately  below  Pointe  Baleine,  four  times 
a  week,  and  drops  passengers  for  the  neighbouring  residences ; 
so  all  the  would-be  explorer  has  to  do  is  to  hail  a  boat  (there 
are  always  two  or  three  plying  for  hire  at  this  station)  and 


58  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

allow  himself  to  be  rowed  to  the  landing  place  at  Pointe 
Baleine.  Once  ashore  the  services  of  either  the  watchman  or 
boatman  can  always  be  engaged  in  the  capacity  of  guide,  as 
it  is  but  twenty  minutes'  walk  to  the  big  Cave,  as  it  is  called 
in  contradistinction  to  the  small  caves  with  which  Pointe 
Baleine  is  honeycombed. 

Having  landed,  after  a  few  minutes'  walking  up  and  down 
an  undulating  limestone  path,  thinly  covered  with  red  earth 
generally  known  as  Gasparil  red  mud,  but  in  true  parlance 
the  decomposed  lime  oxide  of  centuries,  we,  at  a  given  point, 
turn  off  the — what  is  facetiously  called  the  "King's  road," 
and  wend  our  way  through  tall  waving  grasses  (panicum 
maximum  or  guinea  grass),  gradually  becoming  more  tim- 
bered as  the  path  runs  uphill,  here  and  there  huge  Ceibas  or 
silk-cotton  trees  (Eriodendron  anfractuosum),  evergreen 
Matapalos  (Clusia)  with  their  magnolia-like  flowers,  and  the 
Savonette  (Sapindus  Saponaria),  with  its  pretty  blue  clusters. 
On  the  left  hand  side  can  be  seen  a  nimiber  of  rubber  trees 
(Manihot  Glaziovii),  which  were  put  in  the  ground  some 
eight  years  ago.  They  have  not  been  of  any  profit  so  far,  but 
the  vegetation  is  wonderfully  luxuriant,  considering  the  fact 
that  they  have  been  planted  in  the  limestone  rock,  with  but 
a  thin  topsoil  of  himius  and  lime  oxide.  Truly,  the  Ceara 
will  grow  well  in  the  most  inhospitable  soil  as  regards  plant 
food.  For  an  aesthetic  eye,  and  keeping  in  view  the  unique 
nature  of  the  Bocas  vegetation,  the  outlook  here  (in  the  wet 
season)  is  perfect.  Green,  each  leaf  is  green,  in  every  shade 
of  that  colour  the  trees  and  shrubs  grow,  the  Cereus,  Cacti  of 
different  kinds,  agaves,  bromelias,  and  pitcairnias — while 
overhead  the  Seguines  (Philodendron)  and  Aroids  interlaced 
among  the  Matapalos  seem  to  find  nourishment  even  in  the 
"Scotchman,"  as  the  Matapalo  or  tree-killer  is  locally 
named ;  while  the  trees  with  white  and  purple  flowers  resem- 
bling the  hawthorn  and  sweet-pea  form  a  pleasing  variega- 
tion to  the  different  shades  of  green.  Owing  to  the  thick 
undergrowth  it  is  generally  impossible  to  get  a  view  of  the 
Gulf,  unless  as  occasionally  happens  some  industrious  and 
enterprising  boatman  has  cleared  the  land  a  bit  to  make  him 
a  garden,  and  then  a  fine  view  rewards  the  visitor — the  Gulf 


A    TRIP   TO    THE   CAVES   OF   CASPAR   CRANDE  59 

of  Paria,  resplendent  in  the  noon-day  sun ! ! !  How  grand  and 
clear  the  hills  of  Monos  and  Chaguaramas  look!!!  And  the 
Boca  Mono  with  its  ever-moaning  bar  and  picturesque  little 
rock  "Dent  Ma  Taitron,"  its  crags  encircled  by  clouds  of 
sea-birds,  while  the  whitecaps  break  into  foam  and  sea- 
spimie  around  the  base. 

Several  small  caves  are  passed  on  the  way  up,  but  they 
only  appear  like  vast  crab-holes  in  the  ground,  being  so 
gnarled  and  twisted,  that  it  is  only  possible  to  see  a  few  feet 
from  the  top.  Following  this  winding  track  up  the  hill  for 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  the  guide  will  turn  to  the  left, 
a  few  more  yards,  and  there,  fenced  in  by  a  very  dilapidated 
railing  overgrown  with  hanging  vines  and  cacti  tall  and 
straight,  is  the  mouth  of  the  Cave ;  fallen  from  overhead  is  a 
huge  tree,  mighty  it  looks,  as  if  specially  thrown  to  bar  us 
poor  mortals  from  further  trespassing.  About  80  ft.  in 
diameter,  thirty  or  more  at  the  steepest  part  of  the  descent, 
and  twelve  at  the  foot  of  the  first  ladder,  small  caves  formed 
in  this  larger  one  make  a  roof  of  surpassing  beauty;  giant 
stalagmites,  some  straight,  others  twisted  in  grotesque  shape, 
huge  stalactites  hanging  from  the  parti-coloured  roof,  glisten- 
ing, all  glistening  as  cut  diamonds  would,  the  rays  of  the 
sun  just  striking  them  as  they  peeped  through  the  branches 
of  the  overhanging  trees.  Walls  of  limestone  rock  on  every 
side  and  a  roof  on  three,  just  open  enough  to  give  light  to  see 
further  down,  for  at  the  foot  of  the  first  ladder,  18  ft.  down 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Cave,  is  a  further  opening  at  our  feet, 
small  this  time  and  dark,  just  a  narrow  shaft  as  it  were 
through  the  rock;  here  we  descend  the  ladder  carefully, 
grasping  with  one  hand  a  stout  rope  which  has  been  securely 
fastened  overhead,  following  your  faithful  guide  down  about 
30  ft.  and  then — words  are  useless  to  express  the  sight  that 
meets  our  eyes,  all  lovers  of  natural  beauty  must  stop  spell- 
bound at  this  wondrous  picture  of  Nature. 

Out  from  the  dark  passages  40  ft.  or  more,  standing  on  a 
small  ledge,  we  behold  the  largest  Cave.  It  would  be  useless 
without  magnesium  or  some  other  powerful  light  to  estimate 
its  size,  for  it  goes  so  far  back  veiled  in  dark  obscurity  that 
we  can  have  no  idea  to  what  extent  it  really  does  go.     There 


6o  SEA   FISH  OF   TRINIDAD 

is  no  record  of  its  ever  having  been  explored,  altho'  it  is 
popularly  supposed  that  treasure  was  submerged  here  by 
the  buccaneers  during  the  Spanish  tenancy  of  the  Colony. 

Looking  from  where  we  stood  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder, 
the  first  part  that  attracts  our  attention  is  the  bit  shown  in 
the  first  picture.  It  is  high  noon  (for  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  descent  should  be  made  at  or  about  mid-day, 
when  the  suA  is  directly  overhead) ,  from  the  shaft  overhead 
the  sunlight  comes  straight  down,  lighting  up  the  large  pool 
of  water,  catching  the  reflection  of  the  marvellous  roof  and 
walls,  and  throwing  the  colours  of  green,  blue,  and  glistening 
white  into  its  darkest  comers.  This  pool  is  extremely  deep, 
but  the  water  is  so  clear  that  wherever  the  light  strikes,  the 
bottom  can  be  seen  most  distinctly.  Rocks  of  all  sizes  and 
shapes  lie  below  that  clear  water ;  huge  stalactites,  presum- 
ably unable  to  bear  their  own  weight,  have  fallen  in  and  lie 
like  marble  mammoths,  still,  for  not  a  ripple  disturbs  that 
smooth,  glistening  surface,  no  living  fish  can  be  seen  there, 
probably  because  the  outlets  to  the  sea  are  too  small ;  no  one 
knows  exactly  even  where  the  outlets  are,  but  I  personally 
think  there  must  be  several,  for  close  to  the  landing  place 
there  is  a  tiny  one,  and  on  the  south  side  between  La  Bor- 
delle  and  Winn's  Bay,  there  are  two  outlets  that  I  have 
reason  to  think  are  connected  with  the  caves.  That  there  is 
connection  with  the  sea  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  the  water 
is  salt  and  pure,  which  latter  quality  it  certainly  would  not 
possess  if  the  pool  were  stagnant  and  not  continually  re- 
newed, and  secondly,  the  depth  varies  with  the  tide. 

Caused  doubtless  by  its  formation  and  great  size,  sound 
is  carried  far  through  the  great  silence,  for  it  is  the  silence  of 
the  dead,  nothing  to  be  seen  or  heard,  not  even  the  twittering 
of  the  birds  overhead,  for  are  we  not  80  ft.  to  100  ft.  from  the 
sunlight  of  the  upper  world  ? 

Some  of  the  stalactites  and  stalagmites  are  of  large  size, 
and  have  acquired  such  different  shapes  that  visitors  from 
time  to  time  have  named  them  after  objects  to  which  they 
have  seen  a  real  or  fancied  resemblance,  an  example  of  which 
is  a  prominent  feature  in  our  second  illustration,  which  goes 
under  the  name  of  "The  Pulpit" ;  further  down  in  the  dark- 


A    TRIP   TO    THE   CAVES  OF  CASPAR   CRANDE  6i 

est  part,  the  formations  are  so  joined  reaching  from  roof  to 
floor,  as  to  suggest  to  the  mind  the  pipes  of  an  organ,  and  if 
one  of  them  is  struck  with  a  stone  it  gives  forth  a  very  pass- 
able imitation  of  the  bass  notes  of  that  instrument.  High 
up  on  a  small  ledge  above  the  large  pool  is  a  tiny  figure  some 
liken  to  "  The  Virgin,"  and  again  on  the  side  we  descend  from 
is  "The  Altar." 

Altogether  there  are  three  openings  overhead,  one  is  above 
our  third  picture,  a  very  small  one,  and  the  rocks  projecting 
out  cut  off  the  little  light  there  is  from  that  aperture,  hence 
as  we  proceed  further  on,  it  is  as  black  as  night,  and  unless 
a  lighted  flambeau  is  at  hand  we  would  be  in  total  darkness ; 
in  this  spot,  however,  the  rocks  are  white  and  shining,  caused 
by  the  lack  of  moisture,  for  it  is  only  in  one  part  that  there  is 
any  depth  of  water,  it  gradually  getting  shallower  as  we 
proceed,  until  all  around  is  quite  dry,  for  it  is  the  constant 
dampness  that  causes  the  green  and  blue  colours  in  the  petri- 
factions at  the  other  comers  of  the  Cave. 

Our  fourth  picture  represents  the  part  of  the  Cave  near 
the  largest  pool.  There  is  really  only  one  pool,  but  owing  to 
the  formation  of  the  rocks,  like  Pelion  upon  Ossa  piled,  it  is 
cut  off  in  parts,  and  narrow  passages  just  run  between, 
causing  some  parts  to  be  deep,  and  others  very  shallow, 
though  the  pool  covers  in  its  widest  part  a  breadth  of  40  ft., 
and  extends  to  an  as  yet  unknown  length.  To  give  some  idea 
of  the  size  of  the  Cave,  where  the  pool  is  narrowest  there  is  a 
width  of  over  30  ft.,  and  at  its  widest  about  4  ft.  breadth  of 
rock  high  and  dry,  and  yet  one  can  only  guess  at  its  extent, 
for  many  of  the  rocks  are  so  huge,  and  the  formation,  as  our 
illustration  shows,  so  curious,  that  it  would  be  indeed  difficult 
to  estimate  correctly. 

From  the  second  largest  opening  above,  the  roots  of  some 
liane  or  tree  have  grown  down  straight  and  strong  like  large 
ropes,  ten  to  twenty  of  them,  and  they  are  the  only  living 
things  in  that  vast  silence. 

From  the  largest  shaft  where  the  sun  is  sending  its  light 
down  into  the  big  pool,  the  Cave  does  not  narrow  down,  but 
the  mighty  wall  of  rock  comes  right  to  the  pool,  just  forming 
an  archway  about  12  ft.  wide  and  9  ft.  high  for  the  water  to 


62  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

pass  through.  What  mystery  or  mysteries  may  lie  in  that 
dark  and  silent  pool  behind  the  archway  it  is  impossible  to 
prophesy.  It  reminds  one  irresistibly  of  Victor  Hugo's  de- 
lightfully weird  book,  "The  Toilers  of  the  Sea,"  or  the 
Scandinavian  legends  of  that  great  sea-monster,  the  "Kra- 
ken."  Perhaps  in  the  near  future  some  hardy  spirits  with  a 
canvas  boat,  and  if  possible  magnesium  candles,  will  draw 
on  one  side  the  curtain  that  has  so  long  veiled  these  secrets. 
They  may  be  rewarded  with  the  loot  of  some  old  buccaneer 
in  Spanish  onzas,  or  have  a  tremendous  sea-fight  with  a 
gigantic  Cephalapod,  the  veritable  "diable  de  la  mer." 
Who  can  tell? 


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EASTWARD  HO! 


Part  V 
EASTWARD  HO! 

Now  the  great  winds  shoreward  blow. 
Now  the  salt  tides  seaward  flow; 
Now  the  wild  white  horses  play, 
Champ  and  chafe  and  toss  in  spray. 

Matthew  Arnold. 

"Go  West,  young  man,"  was  Horace  Greeley's  advice  to 
the  ambitious  youth  of  America.  "Go  East,"  say  I  to  the 
colonist,  whether  of  Creole,  European,  or  American  birth, 
for  that's  where  the  dollars  lie.  They  may  be  in  the  fat  fer- 
tile soils  of  Manzanilla  and  Toco,  ideal  lands  for  coco  and 
rubber,  where  according  to  the  old  time  saying,  you  plant 
a  stampee  (a  small  coin  now  obsolete,  that  represented  2^ 
cents) ,  and  a  doubloon  comes  up ;  or  in  the  sandy  coast  lands 
stretching  from  Point  Galera,  the  extreme  Northeast  point, 
to  Point  Galeota  in  the  Southeast,  the  natural  home  of 
those  consols  of  the  the  East,  the  coco-nut  palms,  not  for- 
getting the  enormous  future  possibilities  in  the  petroleum 
and  other  mineral  deposits  that  are  now  being  exploited  in 
Guayaguayare  and  Southern  Mayaro.  But  all  these  details 
the  would-be  planter  will  doubtless  find  out  for  himself 
without  my  officious  assistance,  so  I  will  plunge  at  once  into 
the  heart  of  things,  my  object  being  to  demonstrate  to  tour- 
ists and  visitors  the  natural  beauties  of  the  Eastern  side  of 
the  Colony.  I  say  "natural"  advisedly,  for  there  is  noth- 
ing artificial  "Band  o  I'Est"  way.  Forewarned  is  fore- 
armed and  it  may  be  too  natural  for  some  people.  For 
those  who  cannot  live  without  the  artificial  life  that  now 
obtains  in  large  cities,  where  every  luxury  is  requisitioned 
for  jaded  appetites,  these  notes  are  not  intended,  but  lovers 
of  the  simple  life  with  healthy  constitutions,  can  confidently 
take  the  trips  that  I  have  outlined,  and  will  I  trust  be  im- 


66  SEA   FISH  OF   TRINIDAD 

pressed  and  delighted  with  the  result.  I  should  also  state, 
for  those  who  are  in  a  hurry,  and  cannot  find  time  for  any 
thing  more  than  a  cursory  inspection,  that  the  Royal  Mail 
Steamer,  "Kennet,"  a  clean  and  speedy  boat,  leaves  Port  of 
Spain  every  Monday  night  for  the  roimd  voyage,  going  by 
the  North  and  returning  by  the  South  in  one  trip,  and  on  the 
alternate  going  by  the  South  and  returning  North,  generally 
reaching  Port  of  Spain  on  the  Friday  having  made  the  round 
in  about  4  days.  She  stops  a  few  hours  (varying  according 
to  the  quantity  of  cargo  she  has  to  take),  at  each  shipping 
place,  where  the  passengers  can  generally  go  ashore  if  they 
please;  the  principal  places  of  interest  on  the  East  coast 
being  Guayaguayare  (petroleum  springs),  Mayaro,  the  chief 
village  on  the  East  coast,  Nariva  and  Manzanilla,  coco-nuts 
and  surf  bathing,  Matura,  good  fishing  and  turtle  hunting, 
and  Toco,  the  chief  port  of  the  most  picturesque  and  one  of 
the  most  prolific  cacao  districts  in  the  Island.  The  ex- 
penses for  the  round  trip  are  only  fifteen  dollars  and  as  the 
fare  is  good,  and  the  "Kennet"  kept  like  all  the  Royal  Mail 
boats,  spotlessly  clean,  it  is  extremely  good  value  for  the 
money.  The  officers,  like  most  of  the  R.  M.  S.,  are  most 
courteous,  and  full  of  information  always  at  the  disposition 
of  the  stranger. 

Now  for  my  Eastern  trips.  About  four  years  ago  I  took 
a  visitor  to  our  shores,  not  a  Pagett,  M.  P.,  but  a  bright 
American  from  good  old  "Kaintuck,"  the  blue  grass  State, 
to  Sangre  Grande.  He  was  interested  in  timber  and  had 
never  seen  a  tropical  forest,  and  as  there  is  a  good  metalled 
road  going  from  the  railway  station  right  through  the  heart 
of  a  Mora  forest  (only  four  miles  from  the  depot,  can  be 
reached  in  an  ordinary  cab),  I  thought  this  would  be  our 
best  starting  point,  more  especially  as  I  had  at  the  same  time 
a  large  gang  of  men  sawing  timber  for  certain  contracts  I  had 
undertaken.  We  reached  the  terminus  at  Sangre  Grande 
about  7  p.  M.,  and  found  the  buggy  of  my  friend  A.  P.  M. 
waiting  for  us,  and  were  at  once  driven  off  to  his  house  about 
two  miles  from  the  Sangre-Grande-Riviere  Road.  Our 
genial  friend  is  one  of  the  largest  cacao  planters  in  the  dis- 
trict having  some  fine  properties.     He  is  also  the  "  K.  K.  J." 


R(.)AD   THROUGPI   .MORA   FOREST. 
(Between  the  OropoiK-he  and  Melao  Rivers.) 


EASTWARD   HO!  67 

for  the  quarter.  I  am  not  quite  certain  about  the  origin  of 
this  title,  but  believe  it  comes  from  the  wayback,  being  some 
ancient  story  of  an  old  Castilian  ancestor  and  "el  burro  del 
rey."  After  dinner  we  found  early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise 
was  the  order  of  the  day,  and  as  we  were  all  tired,  turned  in, 
an  amusing  little  interlude  being  caused  by  the  efforts  of  my 
American  friend,  6  ft.  in  height,  weighing  230  lbs.,  to  get  into 
a  suit  of  pajamas  of  our  host,  5  ft.  6  in.  and  150  lbs.  weight. 
At  4  A.  M.  the  Poo-Poo-Poo  of  a  horn  or  conch-shell  woke  us 
up.  "Say,"  said  Kaintuck,  "is  that  the  cows  coming 
home  ? "  "  No, "  responded  I,  "  it  is  the  labourers  going  out. ' ' 
As  our  host  was  now  bumping  about  with  much  splashing  of 
water,  we  judged  it  was  time  we  did  ditto,  and  at  5.30,  after 
some  good  coffee,  we  were  off  for  the  woods,  a  distance  of 
but  three  miles  right  in  the  heart  of  the  Mora  forest  (Mora 
excelsa),  the  great  social  tree  of  Trinidad  and  British  Guiana. 
Here  and  there  the  eye  of  the  woodsman  might  discern  a 
solitary  balata  (mimusops  globosa),  carapa  or  Crapeaud, 
(carapa  guianensis),  guatacare  (lecythis  idatimon),  or  laurier 
cyp  (Oreodaphne  cemua),  but  those  forest  giants  the  Mora 
by  far  eclipsed  the  others  in  quantity,  size,  and  grandeur, 
"lifting  their  shafts  like  some  great  amiral,"  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  aye,  and  two  hundred  or  more  feet  from  the  ground. 
We  walked  along  the  road  on  a  carpet  of  little  palms,  chiefly 
timite  (manicaria)  and  manacques  (euterpe  oleracea),  and 
through  irregular  coppices  of  young  Mora  with  their  chestnut- 
like seeds  strewn  around  like  shells  on  the  sea-shore,  to  the 
place  where  my  workmen  were  busy  with  pit-saw,  cross-cut, 
and  axe,  squaring  and  sawing  the  great  chestnut-coloured 
logs.  My  American  friend  expressed  himself  delighted  with 
the  strong  and  tough  texture  of  the  timber,  and  opined  that 
there  would  be  a  lot  of  money  for  that  wood  in  the  States  for 
railway  ties.  I  had  to  explain  to  him  that  unless  there  was 
a  sudden  local  demand  for  the  different  hard-woods  for  large 
contracts,  the  game  was  not  worth  the  candle,  the  lack  of 
water  carriage  rendering  an  export  trade  utterly  impossible. 
I  also  told  him  that  although  the  Mora  wood  was  so  tough 
and  heavy,  there  was  a  local  prejudice  against  it  as  posts  or 
pillar-trees,  the  wise  men  asserting  that  it  always  rotted, 


68  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

especially  between  wind  and  water,  that  is,  at  the  immediate 
spot  where  the  butt  of  the  post  rises  from  the  ground.  My 
experience  has  shown  that  the  same  rot  will  happen  to  any 
timber  unless  it  has  a  casing  of  metal  or  concrete  12  in.  to 
18  in.  in  length  at  the  point  of  contact.  Another  cause  that 
militates  strongly  against  the  success  of  the  local  woods,  is 
the  fact  that  owing  to  want  of  capital  and  the  hand-to- 
mouth  manner  in  which  most  of  the  limibermen  have  to 
conduct  their  business,  the  timber  is  never  given  a  chance  of 
curing.  It  is  cut  down,  squared,  or  sawn  up,  and  applied  to 
use  perfectly  green.  All  the  experienced  timber  people  of 
Europe  and  America  know  that  wood  after  being  squared  or 
sawn,  should  be  carefully  stacked  in  a  dry  situation  and 
thoroughly  protected  from  the  weather  until  it  is  quite 
cured,  generally  taking  a  couple  of  years  for  that  process. 
The  good  people  of  Trinidad  do  not  seem  to  realize  this,  if 
they  did  there  would  be  less  disappointment  and  outcry  about 
warp,  rot,  and  termites  or  white  ants.  I  also  expect  if  it 
were  possible  to  start  an  export  trade  with  the  States  or 
Europe  in  our  hardwoods,  the  workmen  there  would  raise 
an  outcry  about  the  toughness  and  peculiarities  of  the  grain 
spoiling  their  tools,  and  would  demand  a  prohibitive  tariff 
of  wages. 

After  taking  a  bath  in  the  Oropouche  river,  which  is  here 
a  lovely  crystal  stream  with  vast  climips  of  bamboos  over- 
hanging and  forming  magnificent  natural  arches  (the  huilia, 
anaconda,  or  water  boa  is  sometimes  seen  and  captured  or 
shot  near  this  river,  more  especially  in  the  swampy  grounds 
by  the  mouth)  we  got  back  to  our  saddles,  and  rode  along 
the  same  highway  to  Melao,  and  over  the  molasses-coloured 
Melao  river,  still  passing  through  Mora  forest.  It  is  the 
peculiar  colour  of  the  water  of  this  river  that  has  given  the 
name  to  the  district,  melao  in  the  Spanish  language  meaning 
molasses.  About  seven  miles  from  the  Sangre  Grande  ter- 
minus, we  came  to  the  junction  with  the  Valencia  road; 
slightly  inclining  to  the  right,  straight  ahead  lay  the  new 
road  to  Grande  Riviere  on  the  North  Coast  of  Toco  about  20 
miles  in  length ;  it  had  been  traced  some  time  and  was  then 
undergoing  the  process  of  benching.     We  turned  sharp  round 


EASTWARD   HO!  69 

to  the  right  along  the  Matura  Road,  which  here  dwindled  to 
an  Indian  trail  covered  in  parts  with  burnt  clay.  Two  miles 
along  this  track  and  we  reached  the  Government  Rest-house 
where  we  stopped  for  breakfast.  I  should  here  mention  for 
the  benefit  of  tourists,  that  although  they  are  nearly  always 
sure  of  getting  accommodation  at  the  different  island  rest- 
houses,  it  is  advisable  before  leaving  Port  of  Spain,  to  get 
a  letter  from  the  Director  or  Assistant  Director  of  Public 
Works  recommending  them  to  the  courtesies  of  the  district 
road  officer  who  has  direct  charge  of  those  bimgalows.  The 
Matura  Rest-house  was  at  this  time  in  charge  of  an  East 
Indian  Creole  of  Demerara  and  his  wife,  who  evidently  kept 
all  the  appointments  of  the  establishment  in  capital  con- 
dition, and  served  us  up  meals  which  were  irreproachable  as 
to  quality,  plain  but  good.  After  breakfast  down  to  the 
village,  where  I  secured  a  henchman  of  mine,  a  one-armed 
Creole  fisherman,  but  a  man  who  even  with  the  loss  of  one 
member,  was  a  great  deal  more  useful  than  many  who  had 
the  normal  complement.  Thence  to  the  beach  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Matura  river,  and  here  we  could  tell  by  the 
clouds  of  sea-birds  squawking  and  hustling  to  and  fro  that 
fish  were  to  the  fore.  The  sea  was  calm,  two  light  shell 
boats  with  pair  oars,  fresh  mackerel  bait,  and  away ;  "  Kain- 
tuck' '  in  one  with  a  rod  and  trolling  gear,  myself  in  the  other 
with  hand-lines  and  22  brass  wire,  the  ordinary  Monos  equip- 
ment. We  had  not  gone  more  than  a  couple  of  hundred 
yards,  before  "Kaintuck"  was  into  a  fine  mackerel  which 
he  duly  put  into  the  boat.  I  lost  several  baits  from  the 
mackerel  and  king-fish  poaching  the  part  below  the  hook, 
playing  " coquin"  as  the  Creoles  term  it;  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  we  neither  of  us  got  anything  of  consequence  until 
reaching  Matura  Point  and  there  we  had  some  glorious  sport, 
especially  near  the  rocky  islets  off  the  headland.  Here  we 
were  kept  busy,  as  the  water  simply  teemed  with  king-fish 
and  mackerel,  some  of  the  former  being  of  great  size,  as  they 
played  "the  cat  and  banjo"  with  "Kaintuck's"  tackle,  and 
smashed  three  or  four  wires  for  me.  On  several  occasions 
we  only  retrieved  the  heads  of  the  fish,  some  patriarchal 
barracoutas  having  relieved  us  of  the  body.     There  was  no 


70  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

mistaking  these  gentlemen ;  we  would  be  playing  9,  fish  who 
was  coming  in  nicely,  when  there  would  be  a  sudden  jar  of 
the  arm,  as  if  the  island  had  been  hooked,  then  as  sudden  a 
slackness,  and  goodbye,  my  kingfish,  goodbye.  Hark,  a 
sudden  burst  of  sound  in  the  comparatively  smooth  water, 
leeside  of  Matura  Point,  similar  to  that  produced  at  a  crowded 
opera  house  at  the  first  appearance  of  a  popular  singer, 
swelHng  gradually  to  the  deep  tones  of  distant  thunder;  a 
school  of  those  game  fish  of  the  Caribbean,  the  Cavalli  or 
Carangue,  have  risen  a  shoal  of  "  sardines  rouges,"  and  these 
tiny  fish  are  flashing  out  of  the  water  in  scintillations  of 
silver,  trying  to  escape  their  active  and  powerful  foes  who 
are  ruthlessly  tearing  them  up  just  below  the  sea's  surface. 
From  Scylla  into  Charybdis,  for  immediately  above  them  the 
air  is  darkened  with  gulls,  boobies,  pelicans,  kittiwakes  and 
man-o'-war  birds,  who  cram  their  maws  to  satiety  with  the 
jumping  fugitives.  Away  right  through  the  school  as  fast  as 
the  oars  can  ply,  and  bang,  I  am  on  to  one ;  by  the  way  betakes 
it  and  the  pace  the  slack  line  whizzes  out,  a  veritable  "Jim 
Jeffries"  of  a  carangue.  He  runs  out  somewhere  about  20 
fathoms  at  his  first  rush,  the  dry  line  burning  my  fingers  like 
a  hot  iron  as  it  runs  through  them,  it  being  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  hand-lining  to  keep  a  gentle  pressure  all  the  time,  so 
as  not  to  lose  touch  of  your  fish.  He  now  stops  for  a  mo- 
ment, butting  with  his  head  ("bale  tete"  the  Creoles  call  it), 
when  I  feel  the  tension  relieved  a  bit ;  I  haul  in  the  line,  but 
only  two  or  three  fathoms,  as  soon  as  he  makes  a  fresh  burst 
and  is  off  again  taking  out  yet  more  slack.  And  so  the  game 
goes  on  for  20  minutes  or  more,  alternately  hauling  in  and 
then  playing  out  imtil  the  gallant  fish  gives  signs  of  ex- 
haustion and  goes  down  and  down  tintil  I  think  he  will  never 
reach  bottom.  When  he  gets  there  he  still  goes  on  pluckily 
butting  with  his  head ;  it  feels  to  the  angler's  fingers  exactly 
as  if  he  were  doing  a  combined  tug  and  dance.  He  is  weary 
and  played  out,  so  I  begin  to  haul  up,  and  when  there  is  a 
sudden  sharp  pull  and  the  increased  strain  takes  out  the  line 
again — my  fingers  actually  feel  a  strong  tear,  and  the  line 
falls  limp.  "  Rechin,"  says  my  one-armed  friend  with  much 
disgust.     "Shark,"  respond  I,  with  even  more  disappoint- 


SURF   BATHIXC,   OX   THE   XARIVA    BEACH. 


VIEW  OF  THE   XARIVA   RIVICR    FROM    THI'-.    FI-.RRV 


EASTWARD   HO!  71 

ment.  However,  it  is  better  to  have  hooked  and  lost  than 
never  to  have  hooked  at  all,  we  have  had  splendid  sport,  and 
secured  enough  edible  fish  for  a  dozen  men  or  more,  so  we 
turn  our  faces  shoreward.  Of  course  on  our  homeward  way 
my  "Jim  Jeffries"  which  had  started  off  at  a  presumably  30 
lbs.  weight  had  increased  to  70  lbs.,  but  that  is  a  little  custom 
of  fishermen  who  have  lost  a  fish  they  have  not  seen. 

We  had  intended  the  next  day  going  on  to  Toco  via 
Salibia,  Tabateau,  Balandra  Bay  and  Tompire,  but  on  our 
return  to  the  Matura  Rest-house  found  a  message  calling  us 
back,  so  after  a  night's  sleep,  we  rose  at  4  a.  m.  and  caught 
the  early  train  to  Port  of  Spain.  At  the  present  date  the 
road  to  Matura  has  been  considerably  improved,  so  it  is  quite 
easy  for  a  traveller  to  engage  a  carriage  or  cab  and  drive  right 
up  to  the  Matura  Rest-house. 


Four  years  after,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  present  year  of 
grace  19 10,  I  turned  my  steps  once  more  Eastward,  but  this 
time  alone,  as  my  Kentucky  friend  having  circumvented  the 
wily  Castro  was  basking  in  the  smiles  of  the  Caracas  sefioritas 
and  (I  fervently  hope),  the  doubloons  of  the  sancochos.  On 
this  occasion  my  arrangements  were  to  go  straight  East  one 
time  as  Cutlifife  Hyne  would  say,  so  I  left  Port  of  Spain  by  the 
morning  train  arriving  at  the  Sangre  Grande  terminus  about 
10  A.  M.  Here  I  was  met  by  my  host  G.  A.  F.  and  his  buggy, 
which  vehicle  he  said  was  entirely  at  my  disposition,  but  he 
himself  had  suddenly  developed  a  patriotic  frame  of  mind  and 
was  going  to  town  to  crack  a  magnum.  Brut  '84,  with  that 
doughty  Laird,  the  Balfour  of  Burleigh,  and  incidentally  he 
thought  to  sing  afterwards  "The  Maple  Leaf  Forever."  I 
should  here  mention  that  a  motor  bus  meets  each  one  of  the 
three  daily  trains  and  carries  passengers  to  the  beach  at 
Manzanilla,  8  \  miles  for  40  cents.  I  regret  to  say  that  there  is 
no  accommodation  for  strangers  when  they  get  there,  but  can 
only  trust  that  this  want  may  be  supplied  in  the  near  future. 
I  took  possession  of  the  buggy  and  Harris  the  groom,  but  as 
the  latter  informed  me,  he  had  to  "make  message"  (a  Creol- 
ism  which  covers  many  things,  making  market  for  the  mis- 


72  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

tress,  firing  six  cents  rum,  or  love  passages  with  his  "  ma  com- 
m^re"),  I  strolled  about  Cunape  village,  as  Sangre  Grande 
is  locally  called,  to  see  what  changes  had  occurred  in  four 
years.  My  impressions  were  that  business  had  increased, 
judging  from  the  nimiber  of  fresh  "shacks"  that  had  been 
run  up  and  the  congested  confusion  of  carts,  barrels  and 
boxes,  etc.,  but  the  proportion  of  loafers,  that  is,  five  to 
every  one  working-man  or  woman,  was  imaltered.  Every 
provision  shop,  and  their  name  was  legion,  held  loafers  of  all 
sorts  who  did  nothing  (as  far  as  I  could  see),  but  sit  round  on 
barrels  or  lean  up  against  the  counters  and  doors  gossiping  and 
living  seemingly  on  the  combined  smells  of  the  shop,  which 
were  undeniably  strong,  and  afforded  probably  all  the  nour- 
ishment these  idle  ones  needed.  Outside  one  of  these  tem- 
ples, I  saw  a  man,  very  drank  indeed,  and  it  was  yet  early  in 
the  day,  and  finding  his  face  familiar  to  me  as  that  of  an  old 
wood-squarer,  I  asked  Harris,  to  whom  he  had  spoken  a  few 
maudlin  words,  if  he  were  not  in  that  line  of  business.  Harris 
answered  that  he  was  a  detective,  which  left  me  furiously  to 
think  over  the  Machiavellian  methods  of  the  Trinidad  Police 
Force.  The  messages  having  been  made  we  got  under  way, 
the  faithful  Harris  acting  as  Jehu. 

Wheeling  to  the  right,  before  the  Court-House,  passing 
the  Cunape  River  over  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  we  gallantly 
breasted  the  hill  leading  to  the  official  portion  of  Sangre 
Grande.  Here,  near  the  Catholic  Church  I  was  struck  by 
one  of  the  first  emblems  of  progress,  a  large  unfinished  build- 
ing which  looked  as  if  the  designer  had  intended  primarily  to 
erect  a  replica  of  the  "Taj  Mahal",  but,  having  changed  his 
mind,  had  chopped  it  up  into  little  cubicles  like  a  Chinese 
gambling  house.  Harris,  who  I  found  was  brimful  of 
information,  told  me  that  the  building  had  been  designed 
and  erected  by  an  Indian  fellow  citizen,  a  remote  descendant 
of  "  the  Lion  of  the  Punjaub,"  at  least  his  name  had  the  same 
terminative  Singh,  who  had  amassed  unto  himself  many 
shekels  and  was  determined  to  show  "dem  half -bit  buccra" 
of  Trinidad  how  to  build  a  house.  Up  past  the  houses  of  the 
official  dignitaries,  D.  M.  O.,  Warden,  etc.,  over  the  Sangre 
Grande  River,  and  again  up  the  hill  where  the  flourishing 


EASTWARD   HO!  73 

plantation  of  dear  old  Doctor  Thomas  is  situated.     Here, 

1  would  have  made  a  short  call  on  J.  P.,  an  old  friend  of  pre- 
historic days,  but  he  had  also  gone  to  chant  "The  Maple  Leaf 
Forever. ' '  Through  Sangre  Chiquito  on  and  on,  cacao  planta- 
tions innumerable  on  both  sides  of  the  road  laden  with  pods, 
purple,  scarlet,  yellow  and  green.  Perched  on  a  hill  on  the 
right  side  of  the  road,  the  "  Casa  de  Fandango"  of  the  "  Cule- 
bra,"  descendant  from  Spanish  hidalgos,  and  the  "doyen" 
of  the  district,  one  who  can  discourse  with  equal  facility  on 
either  the  mediseval  customs  of  old  Spain,  including  Toledo 
blades  and  culebras,  or  the  manners  of  modern  London  and 
its  latest  development  in  taxicabs.  Now  for  the  long  hills  of 
famed  Morne  Calabash,  and  Comparo,  where  "Louis  Phi- 
lippe" erst  protege  of  the  popular  Lord  Harris,  enjoys  his  well- 
earned  otium  cum  dignitate.  The  roads  are  fairly  graded 
and  were  surmounted  without  difficulty,  and  at  the  bottom 
of  the  long  descent  from  these  hills,  lay  El  Recuerdo,  about 

2  J  miles  from  Manzanilla  beach,  my  resting  place  for  the 
night.  The  house  is  prettily  situated  on  a  ridge,  nearly  100 
ft.  above  the  level  of  the  King's  Highway,  which  has  been 
carefully  levelled,  round  edged,  and  terraced. 

The  "  coupd'oeil"  that  presented  itself  at  dawn  nextmorn- 
ing  when  I  went  outside  the  house,  was  truly  picturesque. 
Each  terrace  was  lined  with  a  wealth  of  plants  of  all  kinds, 
palms,  crotons,  colei,  canna,  dracenas,  roses,  begonias,  all  too 
numerous  to  recapitulate,  and  G.  A.  F.  assured  me  that  they 
had  all  been  originally  planted  from  slips  just  placed  in  the 
ground,  and  not  from  rooted  cuttings,  proof  positive  of  the 
generous  nature  of  the  soil.  Westward  of  the  house,  a  lawn 
had  been  laid  out  and  planted  with  grass,  and  contiguous  to 
this  plot  is  a  small  hill,  on  a  rise  of  about  50  ft.  from  the 
house,  known  as  Mt.  Beverley,  on  which  the  proprietor  in- 
tends to  build  a  chalet,  where  he  can  pass  a  week-end  far 
from  the  madding  crowd,  and  a  delightful  spot  it  is.  Right 
above  the  lofty  tree-tops  come  with  an  uninterrupted  rush, 
the  cool  winds  of  the  eastern  sea,  bringing  fresh  life  from 
across  the  Atlantic ;  looking  towards  the  North,  the  opposite 
slopes  are  one  mass  of  the  flame-coloured  Immortel  (Eryth- 
rina  umbrosa),  while  immediately  beneath  are  the  engine- 


74  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

room,  drying  houses,  and  barracks  of  the  plantation.  On 
the  South,  one  looks  down  into  rich  dells  with  a  perfect 
kaleidoscopic  arrangement  of  the  glossy  green  cacao  leaves 
interspersed  with  the  pods  of  many  hues ;  while  on  the  West, 
Brigand  Hill,  about  which  gruesome  tales  are  retailed  in  the 
quarter  about  the  days  of  the  old  buccaneers,  especially  the 
renowned  Blackbeard  who  is  supposed  to  have  opened  many 
a  dead  man's  chest  and  bottles  of  rum  in  the  Caves  of  Bri- 
gand Hill.  Further  off  in  the  blue-grey  Mt.  Harris  forms  an 
appropriate  background.  But  the  "pi^ce  de  resistance"  of 
the  picture  is  a  large  Pois  doux  (Inga),  which  has  been  entirely 
monopolized  by  the  cat's  claw  vine  now  in  flower,  and  cover- 
ing the  tree  with  a  veritable  shower  of  gold.  Nor  is  bird  life 
wanting.  Jacamars  with  their  greeny-gold  breasts  flit  from 
bough  to  bough,  brilliant  himiming  birds  in  all  hues  from 
flower  to  flower,  the  ubiquitous  shrike  or  "qu'est  ce  qu'il 
dit",  of  course,  is  omnipresent,  whilst  overhead  flocks  of 
green  parroquets  and  blue  and  yellow  macaws  fly  past  chat- 
tering and  screeching. 

G.  A  .F.  having  ventilated  his  political  opinions  and  finished 
with  wine  and  wassail,  returned  from  Port  of  Spain  by  first 
train,  and  we  made  arrangements  to  go  at  once  to  Nariva 
and  Mayaro.  I  must  here  side-track  a  moment  to  narrate  a 
rather  amusing  incident  that  occurred  on  his  return.  I 
have  previously  mentioned  G,  A.  F.'s  retainer,  Harris,  who  in 
a  humble  way  reminded  me  of  his  illustrious  prototype,  the 
Harris  of  Mark  Twain  in  "  The  Tramp  Abroad."  Those  who 
have  read  that  book  may  remember  that  America's  cham- 
pion jokist  always  insisted  on  Harris  experimenting  in  the 
first  place  on  every  new  enterprise  or  undertaking.  So  it  is 
with  mine  host  and  his  Harris.  G.  A.  F.  happens  to  be  a  very 
ingenious  mechanician,  and  has  with  infinite  care  and  labour 
built  him  an  aeroplane.  The  machine  had  just  bee|i  finished, 
and  lay  on  the  terrace  before  the  house  ready  for  trial.  G.  A. 
F.,  being  a  very  large  and  heavy  man,  thought  that  it  would 
be  better  to  have  the  trial  trip  conducted  by  a  light  weight, 
and  called  Harris  for  that  purpose.  Having  shown  him  how 
to  handle  the  lever  and  explained  the  steering  gear,  he 
ordered  him  to  get  into  the  aeroplane  and  try  to  clear  the 


CROSSING   THE   ORTOIRE   FERRY. 


THE  ORTOIRE   RIVER. 


EASTWARD   HO!  75 

curing  house,  about  50  ft.  below  the  house  terrace,  and  drop 
lightly,  if  possible  on  the  high  road,  another  fall  of  about  30 
ft.  Poor  Harris  jibbed,  so  G.  A.  F.,  who  stands  about  6  ft.  2  in. 
in  his  socks,  made  a  dive  for  him  with  a  hand  like  that  of 
Providence,  and  sad  to  say,  Harris  "took  bush." 

We  left  about  noon  and  drove  through  the  long,  strag- 
gling Manzanilla  village  for  a  little  over  two  miles,  when 
coming  over  the  rise  of  a  hill,  the  cool  strong  breeze  and  roar 
of  the  surf  warned  us  of  our  proximity  to  the  beach.  A  few 
more  seconds  and  there  we  were  in  full  view  of  the  Atlantic, 
a  most  refreshing  sight,  particularly  to  a  denizen  of  the 
tropics.  On  the  left  the  Manzanilla  shipping  place  or  depot, 
where  the  produce  of  the  district  is  collected  to  be  shipped 
on  the  R.  M.  S.  coastal  steamer  every  week,  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Lebranche  River,  a  great  resort  of  the  famous  mullet 
that  goes  by  that  name.  Beyond  the  river,  Manzanilla 
Point  runs  out  about  a  mile  into  the  sea,  having  at  its  ex- 
treme end  several  half-submerged  rocks  called  the  Carpen- 
ters, which  have  been  responsible  for  several  shipwrecks, 
amongst  them  as  the  legend  goes,  the  establishment  of  the 
Cocal,  a  vessel  loaded  with  coco-nuts  from  the  Orient,  being 
driven  on  the  Carpenters  and  totally  wrecked,  the  cargo  of 
coco-nuts  gradually  drifted  ashore,  where  Mother  Earth 
took  them  to  her  bosom  and  generously  nourished  them,  so 
that  they  formed  the  advance  guard  of  the  present  fine  prop- 
erty called  the  Cocal,  a  stretch  of  near  fourteen  miles  from 
the  Manzanilla  Road  to  the  Ortoire.  All  cultivations  have 
more  or  less  their  attractive  featitres,  and,  although  that  of 
the  coco-nut  does  not  aspire  to  the  generosity  of  colour  and 
lush  vegetation  of  a  cocoa  estate,  yet  it  has  its  own  peculiar 
charm,  more  especially  at  the  Cocal,  where  the  foam-capped 
breakers  with  their  everlasting  roar  seem  to  be  perpetually 
gibing  the  slow  work  of  Nature  and  her  workers,  saying, 
"  Come,  hustle  up  now,  see  what  a  hurry  we  are  in  and  always 
at  work.  Take  a  lesson  from  us,  we  are  the  only  exponents 
of  perpetual  motion";  while  just  outside  the  high-water 
mark  are  the  groves  of  coco-nut  palms,  quiet  and  still  as  the 
Temple  of  Silence,  with  the  pale  amber  light  that  is  caused 
by  the  combined  reflective  action  of  sun,  palm,  and  sand. 


76  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

What  a  contrast  to  the  hurly-burly  outside!  There  had 
been  recently  heavy  seas  and  plenty  of  rain,  so  the  beach  was 
clean,  as  clean,  possibly,  as  it  would  have  been  if  the  50  maids 
of  the  Walrus  and  Carpenter  ballad  had  been  employed  on  it, 
just  a  few  sea-borne  logs  here  and  there.  In  places,  torn  up 
and  spread  out  by  the  tide  were  heaps  of  chip-chip,  a  small 
shell-fish  with  which  the  East  coast  cooks  concoct  a  most 
delicious  and  nutritious  soup,  pretty,  rose-tinted  shells 
attached  to  the  end  of  a  coralline  15  ins.,  or  18  ins.  long, 
purple  bivalves,  with  graceful  spines  projecting  from  them 
(Cytherea  Dione),  and  nimiberless  other  objects  of  joy  to  the 
curiosity  hunter.  Five  miles  from  where  we  turned  on  to 
the  Manzanilla  beach,  and  we  arrived  at  the  great  house  of 
the  Cocal,  the  residence  of  our  genial  old  friend,  L.  E.  B.,  the 
manager  of  the  property,  generally  called  King  Coco  in  the 
quarter,  on  account  of  his  extreme  devotion  to,  and  care  of, 
that  valuable  palm  and  product.  He  received  us  with  open 
arms,  and,  after  offering  libations  to  Bacchus,  we  took  a  walk 
through  his  favourite  groves  to  the  Nariva,  which  runs  at 
the  back  and  parallel  with  the  Cocal,  to  look  into  the  fishing 
prospects,  as  I  had  heard  great  tales  of  giant  tarpon,  grouper 
and  cat-fish,  the  latter  equal  in  size  to  those  of  the  Mississippi 
80  lbs.  in  weight,  but  fisherman,  beware!!!!  the  poison  barb, 
a  wound  from  it  can  hardly  be  healed.  L.  E.  B.  told  us  that 
some  four  weeks  previously,  his  men  had  harpooned  and 
killed  a  "manatee"  or  sea-cow  in  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
about  600  lbs.  in  weight,  and  showed  us  the  hide,  which  had 
just  been  returned  to  him  from  Port  of  Spain,  where  it  had 
been  tanned.  It  was  really  fine,  strong  leather,  looking  as 
if  it  would  last  for  ever,  judging  by  a  pair  of  buggy  traces  he 
had  made  out  of  it. 

Our  host  was  very  keen  on  the  cultivation  of  the  coco-nut, 
and  as  I  had  realized  for  some  time  past,  that  it  is  at  present 
and  will  probably  remain  for  some  time  the  most  profitable 
of  tropical  plants,  the  conversation  was  very  interesting  to 
me.  My  own  impression  is,  that  the  chemists  having  over- 
come the  inversion  that  usually  took  place  in  the  freshly  ex- 
pressed oil  of  the  coco-nut  some  twenty-four  hours  after 
manufacture,  and  the  result  of  this  discovery  being  the  thou- 


EASTWARD  HO!  77 

sands  of  tons  of  vegetable  butter  under  the  names  of  nuco- 
line,  palmine,  vegetaline,  et  id  genus  omne,  that  are  now  being 
turned  out,  and  yet  withal  the  supply  being  in  no  way  equal 
to  meet  the  demand,  the  cultivation  of  the  coco-nut  will  be 
remimerative  for  many  a  year,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  pres- 
ent anxiety  of  large  dealers  to  purchase  forward  crops.  It 
should  be  also  remembered  that  the  use  of  these  coco-nut 
butters  is  very  little  known ;  when  it  is  generally  advertised 
the  demand  will  go  up  by  leaps  and  bounds.  For  cooking 
purposes  in  particular,  most  persons  would  use  a  vegetable 
oil,  in  preference  to  an  animal  oil.  We  all  agreed  that  the 
coco-nut  was  the  plant  beyond  all  others  that  for  years  had 
been  allowed  to  grow  only  by  the  grace  of  God  and  its  own 
sweet  will,  man  having  done  little  or  nothing  to  aid  it.  L.  E. 
B,  waxed  quite  enthusiastic  over  improvements  and  the 
result  of  his  experiments.  When  he  first  took  over  the 
plantation,  poor  and  neglected,  60%  of  the  crop  consisted  of 
culls  (undersized  nuts).  This  he  had  now  reduced  to  40%, 
and  he  would  not  rest  until  he  had  got  that  40%  to  10%.  He 
did  not  believe  that,  taken  all  round,  in  Trinidad  the  palm 
averaged  60  nuts  per  annimi,  when  with  intelligent  cultiva- 
tion, it  should  yield  120.  He  believed  in  green  dressing, 
leguminous  manures  and  spraying,  none  of  which  had  been 
attempted,  and  he  was  an  ardent  advocate  for  the  importa- 
tion of  plants  of  well-known  commercial  value,  particularly 
from  South  and  Central  American  countries,  even  though  the 
cost  was  high.  As  to  the  sinful  waste,  annually,  in  the  shape 
of  milHons  of  husks  lying  rotting  around,  he  was  thankful 
to  say  he  would  shortly  be  able  to  put  a  stop  to  that,  as  his 
enterprising  proprietor  was  going  to  give  him  a  steel  digester 
and  high  pressure  pump,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  hoped  to 
reduce  the  hitherto  neglected  husks  to  cellulose,  which 
would  be  baled  in  sheets,  and  sent  to  the  paper  manufac- 
turers to  turn  into  a  first  class  strong  wrapping  paper. 

By  this  time  we  had  reached  the  Nariva  ferry,  and  as  the 
sun  was  getting  low,  retraced  the  two  miles  to  the  bungalow, 
where  we  found  a  most  original  and  tastefully  cooked  dinner 
awaiting  us ;  it  was  so  unique  that  I  here  subjoin  the  menu, 
our  host  stipulating  that  as  he  was  neither  Crab  nor  Creole, 


78  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

but  true  Barbadian  bom,  it  should  be  written  in  honest 
English. 

MENU 

Mayaro  Oysters 

(in  half  shell) 

Potted  Manatee  brains  on  toast 

Chip-chip  Soup  with  forcemeat  balls  of  minced  paludes 

(cockles) 

Boiled  grouper  Ailerondes  stewed 

Cirique  sauce  in  white  wine 

(Blue  Rock  crab)  (Mayaro  soles) 

Roast  Lap 

Seville  Orange  sauce 

Iced  Coco-nut  Cream,  with  seaside  grape  jelly 

Dewar's  whiskey  Contraband 

(old  vatted)  rum 

After  dinner,  G.  A.  F.,  suddenly  recollecting  his  political 
banquet  of  the  previous  evening,  proposed  the  healths  of 
the  King  and  Sir  George  Ruthven,  which  were  duly  honoured. 
When,  however,  with  relics  of  the  maple  leaf  still  clinging 
round  him,  he  volunteered  to  sing  that  celebrated  song,  we, 
knowing  that  he  had  a  voice  like  a  foghorn,  and  being  also 
fearful  that  it  might  attract  the  attention  of  the  celebrated 
Vanderdecken  and  his  phantom  ship,  which  had  been  seen 
off  the  East  Coast,  begged  him  to  postpone  it  for  the  present. 
So  we  adjourned  to  the  beach  for  an  al  fresco  smoke  with  the 
sharp  salt  breeze  bringing  its  soporific  influences  to  bear  upon 
us,  and  the  phosphorescent  breakers  playing  like  lambent 
flames  on  the  sand.  As  I  could  see  that  both  my  friends 
were  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  supernatural 
beings  haunted  the  coast,  I  interrogated  them  on  the  subject, 
and  L.  E.  B.  came  out  especially  strong,  in  fact,  quite  Colerid- 
gian.  He  had  been  out  on  the  beach  at  all  hours  of  the  night 
and  morning,  and  had  frequently  seen  the  phantom,  some- 
times in  the  shape  of  a  full  rigged  ship  with  one  solitary  large 
blue  light  at  the  peak ;  at  other  times  a  sloop  or  small  boat, 
evidently  making  in  shore.  One  night  after  a  storm,  there 
came  the  proverbial  calm,  and  he  saw  the  light  making  for 
the  shore  near  the  house,  so  he  waited  for  it.  He  noticed 
that   the  sea   had   an   unusual   appearance,  for,  although 


EASTWARD   HO!  79 

smooth  on  the  surface,  "the  water  Hke  a  witch's  oil  burnt 
red,  and  blue,  and  bright."  While  he  was  waiting  for  it  the 
light  suddenly  went  out,  there  was  a  wail  like  that  of  a  lost 
soul  and  the  spectral  boat  vanished.  At  other  times  the 
"zombi"  would  appear  in  a  buggy,  with  a  phantom  horse, 
breathing  fire  from  its  nostrils  like  the  steed  in  the  Erl-king's 
ride.  One  night  L.  E.  B.  was  waiting  anxiously  for  the  Doctor 
from  Manzanilla  to  see  an  invalid  in  his  house.  The  clock 
had  just  chimed  the  first  hour  of  the  morn,  when  he  heard 
buggy  wheels.  He  rushed  out  and  met  it,  when  to  his  sur- 
prise the  driver  took  no  heed,  but  drove  straight  on.  He 
could  plainly  see  him,  a  big,  old  man,  of  sad  and  stern  ex- 
pression, "with  long  grey  beard  and  glistening  eye."  He 
enquired  of  the  Nariva  ferrymen  next  morning,  and  the  man 
told  him  no  vehicle  had  crossed  over  during  the  night.  I 
enquired  after  the  patient,  and  L.  E.  B.  told  me,  he  went  out 
with  the  tide  like  Barkis,  before  the  doctor's  arrival.  The 
suggestion  that  I  made,  to  the  effect  that  Vanderdecken  and 
his  Flying  Dutchman,  weary  of  trying  to  round  the  Cape,  had 
come  westward,  was  not  received  with  enthusiasm,  they  evi- 
dently preferring  the  local  legend,  which  is  that  some  60  years 
back  the  Portuguese  captain  of  a  slaver,  one  Joachim  deGama, 
being  pursued  by  a  British  cruiser  off  Point  Mayaro,  had 
brought  his  manacled  slaves  on  deck  and  thrown  them  over- 
board, for  which  awful  crime  he  had  been  doomed  to  cruise 
the  East  coast  for  ever.  Perhaps  this  part  of  the  Island  is 
"le  paysdes  revenants,"  and  the  phantoms,  particularly  the 
buggy  ones,  are  the  old-timers  come  back  to  review  the 
scenes  of  former  glories.  Thence  to  bed  and  a  glorious  sleep, 
unbroken  by  "zombis." 

Up  in  the  morning  early,  for  L.  E.  B.  and  self  were  going 
to  take  the  long  drive  to  Guayaguayare,  about  24  miles, 
having  sent  on  a  relief  horse  to  Plaisance,  Mayaro,  the  night 
before.  We  ferried  over  the  Nariva,  which  is  here  a  fairly 
large  stream  (vide  illustration),  and  then  drove  the  6-mile 
stretch  of  beach  lined  with  coco-nut  palms  to  the  Ortoire 
ferry  (vide  illustration).  On  gaining  the  other  bank  of  the 
Ortoire  we  left  the  beach  and  drove  on  the  burnt  clay  road 
past  swamp  land  heavily  fenced  in  with  lofty  red  mangroves 


8o  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

(Rhizophora),  and  white  mangroves  (Avicennia  nitida). 
There  ought  to  be  dollars  in  the  exploitation  of  this  swamp, 
for  these  splendid  poles,  40  ft.  to  60  ft.  in  height,  as  the  red 
mangrove  particularly  is  the  best  wood  for  wet  situations, 
and  the  bark  is  good  for  tanning  purposes.  The  difficulty  lies 
in  getting  the  poles  out,  for  there  is  not  sufficient  water  to 
float  a  punt,  while  there  is  too  much  for  cattle  to  be  used  as 
haulage,  but  this  could,  I  fancy,  be  overcome  by  other  means 
if  the  demand  arose.  Once  more  in  view  of  the  sea  and  the 
base  of  Mayaro  point.  As  it  is  impossible  to  go  round  the 
rocks,  we  take  the  steep  hill  and  drive  right  on,  eventually 
coming  out  at  the  beach  again  at  St.  Joseph's,  passing  the 
new  main  road  to  Savanna  Grande  on  the  right.  A  few 
hundred  yards  more  and  we  reached  the  Mayaro  Rest-house, 
where  we  found  our  fresh  horse  and  got  breakfast.  A  short 
rest  and  off  again,  past  the  village,  or  rather  villages  of 
Mayaro.  Immediately  opposite  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
at  Plaisance,  is  the  anchorage  for  the  R.  M,  S.  coastal  steamei 
when  she  comes  to  load  and  discharge  cargo,  there  being 
comparatively  deep  water  so  that  the  "Kennet"  can  come 
within  a  hundred  feet  or  so  of  the  shore.  Onward  through 
the  interminable  sand  and  miles  of  coco-nut  groves,  past 
Beausejour,  Perseverance,  the  Lagon  doux  (which  much  be- 
Hes  its  name),  and  Beaumont  where  our  local  Pierpont  Mor- 
gan has  one  of  his  many  irons,  and  a  good  one,  too.  Twelve 
miles  of  this,  and  we  cross  the  narrow  spit  of  land  forming 
the  peninsula  of  Cape  Galeota,  the  extreme  Southeast  point 
of  the  Island.  Outside  this  point  there  is  a  reef  from  which 
oysters  are  obtained  that  cannot  be  excelled  in  flavour  any- 
where. Now  the  bay  of  Guayaguayare  bursts  on  our  view, 
the  largest  and  most  picturesque  bay  in  Trinidad,  with  its 
two  sentinels,  Points  Galeota  and  Gran  Calle.  It  has  some 
nasty  reefs,  both  on  the  Eastern  and  Western  shores ;  this  in 
combination  with  sparse  cultivation  and  population  has 
hitherto  hindered  its  exploitation,  so  it  has  been  a  terra  in- 
cognita to  Trinidad  folk.  Now,  a  combination  of  our  Eng- 
lish and  Canadian  friends,  having  struck  "ile,"  there  is  no 
saying  to  what  heights  Guayaguayare  may  soar.  At  the 
time  of  my  visit,  everything  was  very  much  in  embryo,  but 


POINT  RADIX,  MAYARO. 


{Showing  oil  officials    riuarle 


A\A(.r.\\  Al 
1  the  beach. 


Iran  Calle  Point  in  the  fhstance.) 


EASTWARD   HO!  8i 

there  were  the  usual  evidences  of  energy  and  progress  in  the 
tropics,  boilers,  tanks,  iron  wheels  and  rails,  machinery  of  all 
kinds,  balks  of  timber  lying  all  around,  with  recalcitrant 
mules  and  cattle,  swarthy  and  sweating  Ethiops,  many  ob- 
jurgations, and  an  atmosphere  of  general  profanity.  Out  of 
this  chaos,  in  time,  order  will  be  evolved,  but  the  initiatory 
stages  under  a  tropical  sun  are  not  inviting. 

Students  of  the  sea-shore  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  they 
can  get  seaweed  of  many  and  varied  hues,  the  best  I  have 
seen  in  the  tropics,  on  the  Western  arm  of  Guayaguayare 
Bay,  and  the  shells  seemed  to  me  objects  of  beauty,  but  not 
being  a  conchologist,  I  cannot  pronounce  authoritatively  on 
them.  The  authorities  of  the  Oil  Company,  following  the 
advice  of  the  "Tropical  School  of  Medicine,  have  erected 
mosquito-proof  bungalows  for  their  chief  officials  (the  first 
buildings  of  the  kind  in  Trinidad),  in  order  that  they  may 
be  able  to  battle  with  that  insidious  foe,  malarial  fever,  of 
which  Guayaguayare,  like  all  newly  opened  districts  on  a 
tropical  coast,  has  a  fair  share ;  and  the  result  of  that  experi- 
ment will  be  interesting  to  follow.  They  have  been  put  up 
on  the  beach  (vide  illustration),  some  distance  South  of  the 
Pilote  River,  and  the  occupants  looked  fairly  healthy  so  far, 
the  fair  chatelaine  being,  as  she  generally  is — on  deck.  After 
a  most  agreeable  evening  and  a  fine  cool  night  (no  mosquito 
nets),  L.  E.  B.  and  self  left  next  morning  for  Mayaro,  where 
we  parted  company,  the  former  making  for  his  palmy  home 
with  its  foam-flecked  border,  while  I  worked  my  passage  to 
Port  of  Spain,  via  Rio  Claro  and  Princestown. 


FISHING   PARTY,  LA   TIXTA,  BOCA  GRANDE. 


POINTI-:    HALICIXi;,   GASl'ARKE   OR  CASPAR   GRANDE. 


THE  REMOUS 


Part  VI 
THE  REMOUS 


"Our  Mother  the  Sea  is  never  at  rest, 
When  the  spring-tide  ebbs  dead  low; 

As  the  coming  '  remous'  boils  up  on  her  breast 
And  thunders  in  caverns  below." 


The  "  remous"  is  the  old  French  name  given  to  the  curious 
ebullition  of  the  sea  and  the  mill-race-like  nature  of  the 
currents  and  cross  currents  that  occur  round  the  islands  of 
the  Bocas  and  the  contiguous  mainland,  when  the  tide  has 
reached  dead-low,  and  is  about  to  turn  for  the  rise.  It  varies 
in  power  according  to  the  seasons,  being  much  stronger  dur- 
ing the  rainy  period  than  the  dry,  when  it  is  often  scarcely 
perceptible.  Its  force  is  always  much  more  in  evidence 
during  the  spring-tides  of  the  new  and  full  moon,  especially 
during  the  months  of  October  and  November,  this  being 
mainly  attributable  to  the  mighty  Orinoco,  which  then 
sweeps  down  in  full  flood,  swollen  from  the  inundated  savan- 
nahs and  torrent-swept  mountains  of  Venezuela.  These 
spring-tides  last  for  five  days,  two  days  before  the  moon, 
new  or  full,  the  day  of  the  new  or  full  moon,  and  two  days 
after — beginning  strong  on  the  first  day  and  gradually  wax- 
ing in  intensity  until  the  fifth  or  last  day,  which  is  the  strong- 
est tide  of  all. 

In  the  French  language  the  word  "remous"  has  three 
different  applications : 

1 .  It  is  the  sea  term  for  the  swell  formed  by  the  displace- 
ment of  water  caused  by  a  ship  travelling  through  the  water. 

2.  It  is  the  re-gathering  of  water  that  has  hurled  and 
broken  against  an  obstacle  such  as  some  solid  body.  For 
instance,  the  famous  voyager  Lapeyrouse,  mentions  in  his 
travels:  "  My  boat  was  floating  near  the  shore,  a  mass  of  ice 


86  SEA   FISH   OF    TRINIDAD 

fell  into  the  water,  at  a  distance  of  400  toises  (fathoms),  and 
this  caused  on  the  sea-shore  such  a  'remous'  that  it  (the 
boat)  was  capsized  and  thrown  perilously  near  the  iceberg." 

3.  Counter-currents  formed  on  each  river  boundary, 
which  direct  themselves  to  the  source  after  having  struck 
the  bank.  On  the  great  rivers  there  are  along  the  sides  con- 
siderable "remous,"  and  these  intensify  in  power  the  nearer 
the  sea  is  reached  and  the  larger  the  river  bed  becomes. 

Some  etymologists  derive  "remous"  from  the  Latin 
remover e,  but  others  assert  that  "remole"  derived  from  the 
Latin  emolere  is  the  proper  appellation.  "Remole"  is  a  sea 
term  in  France  rarely  used,  and  means  a  whirlpool  which  is 
always  more  or  less  dangerous.  The  Spanish  word  "  remo- 
lino,"  also  meaning  a  whirlpool,  is  evidently  derived  from 
the  same  source.  Chateaubriand  in  his  book  on  the  Chase 
in  America,  mentions  the  word  thus:  "lis  (the  beavers) 
approchent  du  souperail  (trou  menage  dans  la  glace),  le  re- 
mole qu'ils  font  en  nageant  les  trahit.  " 

It  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  the  sweep  of  two 
contrary  currents  along  the  coast,  which  have  their  point  of 
conflict  in  the  bay  opposite  Port  of  Spain.  The  currents  are 
made  up  of  the  resultants  between  the  tides  of  the  sea,  the 
Orinoco  currents  and  the  Caroni  current.  When  the  tide  is 
ebbing  a  current  sweeps  along  the  coast  from  the  Serpent's 
Mouth  towards  Port  of  Spain  and  seeks  an  outlet  through  the 
Bocas  into  the  Caribbean.  But  when  the  tide  rises,  a  con- 
trary current  forms  outside  the  Bocas,  forces  them  back  to 
the  eastward,  and  there  is  a  moment  just  at  the  lowest  ebb 
and  the  approaching  rise,  that  the  famous  boiling  of  the 
waters,  called  the  "remous"  takes  place;  afterwards  the 
Bocas  currents  assert  their  supremacy  until  the  tide  begins 
to  ebb  once  more. 

It  is  a  curious  and  withal  fascinating  sight  to  stand  on  a 
headland  commanding  a  good  view,  especially  on  a  calm  day, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Bocas,  and  watch  the  "remous"  from 
its  coming  to  its  passing  away — a  period  of  about  thirty 
minutes,  when  there  is  a  spring-tide.  Personally,  I  prefer 
the  rocks  at  Pointe  Baleine,  the  headland  cocupying  the 
western  end  of  Gasper  Grande,  because  the  view  from  there 


THE   REM O  US 


87 


commands  all  the  Bocas;  not  a  vessel  can  enter  the  Gulf  of 
Paria  through  any  of  these  four  mouths  without  being  seen. 
Monos,  Huevos,  Chacachacare  and  Patos  are  all  visible. 
For  about  half  an  hour  immediately  previous  to  the  "re- 
mous,"  the  tide  which  has  been  ebbing  furiously  becomes 
dead  slack,  and  for  that  short  period  of  time  anglers  should 
note,  the  trolHng  wire  and  casting  line  have  every  chance  of 
success. 

Come  with  me  to  the  rocks  on  Pointe  Baleine,  facing  west, 
and  watch  for  the  coming  "remous";  it  is  now  9  a.  m.  and 
the  third  day  of  the  new  moon  in  October ;  the  eastern  sun  is 
hid  behind  us,  so  we  shall  have  a  clear  view.  A  gentle  north- 
west breeze,  just  a  whisper,  is  with  tiny  gusts,  intermittently 
covering  the  surface  of  the  gleaming  ocean  as  with  a  film 
which  those  small  white  winged  sloops  (Grenada  men-of-war 
by  their  rig,  going  to  Port  of  Spain  market  with  their  fruit 
and  vegetables)  now  emerging  from  the  Monos  and  Huevos 
Bocas,  are  taking  every  advantage  of,  for  they  know  full  well 
that  if  they  do  not  get  through  their  jaws  to  the  more  peace- 
ful expanse  of  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  back  they  will  go  in  the 
Boca,  driven  by  an  irresistible  force,  perchance  to  be  battered 
in  pieces  on  the  Parasol  rocks  or  the  towering  chffs  of  the 
first  Boca.  The  tide  is  now  ebbing  with  a  final  rush  round 
Pointe  Baleine  past  the  Goat-pen,  and  see  that  dark  line, 
coming  from  outside  Pointe  Romaine,  Chacachacare— that 
is  the  rising  tide  coming  from  the  Boca  Grande  and  whirling 
round  the  Diamond  Rock,  with  the  force  of  a  cataract,  to 
meet  the  other  dark  line  you  can  now  see  romping  in  from 
the  Boca  de  Navios  round  Point  Girod.  Hark  that  dull  roar 
gradually  swelling  as  the  two  currents  meet  and  rush  down 
going  eastward.  The  "remous"  has  begun,  and  here  comes 
what  is  locally  called  the  first  thread.  A  school  of  "  camard 
cavalH"  rise  near  Baleine  and  perform  one  of  their  character- 
istic dances  with  great  enthusiasm  for  a  few  seconds,  just  as 
a  four-oared  pirogue  with  a  large  seine  in  the  stern  shoots 
round  the  corner,  having  their  work  cut  out  to  get  round 
with  the  cross  currents  that  are  now  coming  into  play. 
Bow  and  No.  3.  are  pulling  Hke  demons,  while  No.  2  and 
stroke  back  water,  the  cox'n  handling  the  "gouverneur" 


88  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

as  the  Bocas  fishermen  call  the  rudder,  with  an  experience 
and  dexterity  learned  from  many  tight  comers.  Now  the 
water  round  us  at  the  point  is  commencing  to  simmer  gently, 
just  as  if  it  were  beginning  to  feel  the  influence  of  some  vast 
subterranean  fire,  gradually  increasing  in  ebullition,  until 
like  some  vast  witch's  cauldron  "bubble-bubble,  toil  and 
trouble,"  the  ocean  is  one  seething  mass,  like  cane  syrup, 
which  is  reaching  the  sugar  stage.  A  fresh  roar  on  the 
north.  Half-turn  and  look ;  you  will  see  the  waters  of  the 
Caribbean,  coming  through  the  Monos  Boca  also  full  of  life, 
jimiping  and  boiling  with  enthusiasm  to  join  in  the  general 
hurly-burly.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  the  surface  of 
the  sea  is  crossed  and  criss-crossed  with  currents  running 
like  express  trains  on  gigantic  iron  roads,  their  surface  being 
smooth  in  comparison  with  the  masses  of  ebullition  they  pass 
through.  The  porpoises  have  ceased  their  gambols,  and  all 
signs  of  fish  life  have  disappeared  for  the  present.  During 
the  period  of  time  the  "remous"  is  passing,  it  is  presumed 
that  all  fish  seek  the  bottom  of  the  deep,  where  the  currents 
are  not  so  perceptible,  and  remain  there  for  some  time  until 
the  new  rising  tide  has  calmed  down  from  its  first  rush.  In 
my  experience,  I  have  never  had  a  bite,  nor  have  I  ever  seen 
a  fish  caught  during  the  time  the  "remous"  is  passing,  and  I 
have  fished  comparatively  secluded  spots,  such  as  Balata, 
Huevos — places  to  outward  appearance  very  little  affected 
by  it — but  to  no  avail. 

The  visitors  to  our  shores  who  are  lovers  of  the  sea, 
should  assuredly,  especially  if  they  go  down  to  the  Bocas  for 
a  time,  not  neglect  the  chance  of  seeing  a  spring-tide  "re- 
mous," as  it  will  repay  them ;  and  as  I  have  previously  stated, 
I  consider  Pointe  Baleine  the  best  "  pied  a  terre"  for  a  general 
prospect.  I  have  great  hopes  in  the  near  future  that  suit- 
able accommodation  will  be  provided  for  tourists  on  the  East- 
ern coast,  between  Manzanilla  and  Mayaro,  but  for  the  pres- 
ent, at  all  events,  they  can  only  find  suitable  residences  at 
the  islands  of  the  Bocas.  The  angler  will  also  be  handicapped 
on  the  Eastern  coast,  the  surf  rendering  fishing  almost  im- 
practicable, except  during  the  months  of  July,  August  and 
September.     It  is  true  he  can  get  tarpon,  black  snapper,  and 


THE   REMOUS  89 

now  and  then,  big  grouper,  at  the  mouths  of  the  Nariva  and 
Ortoire,  but  only  when  the  river  water  gets  salt,  that  is,  to- 
wards the  middle  of  the  dry  season,  which,  in  that  district, 
is  rather  an  unknown  quantity.  If  the  visitor  enjoys  surf 
bathing  he  can  get  of  the  very  best  along  the  Eastern  beach, 
and  he  can  get  pleasant  interludes  of  riding,  driving,  and  an 
occasional  shot  at  game-birds  or  beasts,  all  pleasures  un- 
known at  the  Bocas  Islands.  Each  place  has  its  own  charac- 
teristics, and  in  the  event  of  arrangements  being  made  for  the 
proper  entertainment  of  guests  (at  present  there  is  but  the 
Government  Rest-house  at  Mayaro,  with  only  limited  accom- 
modation), the  East  coast  will  prove  a  formidable  rival  to 
the  Bocas.  Personally,  through  old  association  and  a  keen 
love  of  fishing,  I  have  an  indubitable  preference  for  the 
latter  district,  more  particularly,  as  I  do  not  care  for  surf 
bathing;  I  infinitely  prefer  the  deep  sea-baths  of  Monos, 
Gasparee,  and  Chacachacare.  One  of  the  things  worth 
living  for,  to  a  denizen  of  the  tropics  who  can  swim,  is  to 
stand  on  a  rock  or  jetty  stripped  to  the  buff,  at  the  first  flush 
of  dawn,  hands  over  head,  and  with  the  Hindu  invocation, 
"Mother  of  all,  I  come,"  or  the  Creole  equivalent,  "O  gros- 
la-mer,  gros-la-mer, "  dive  into  the  pellucid  depths  10, 20,  aye, 
30  feet,  then  strike  out  vigorously  for  a  swim  just  as  short  or 
as  long  as  you  please,  for  the  water  is  of  such  a  pleasant 
temperature  in  these  seas,  that  you  can  remain  in,  especially 
at  early  dawn  or  evening,  just  as  long  as  you  like,  without 
sustaining  any  bodily  harm.  Then  a  good  substantial  coffee, 
for  the  sea  air  gives  a  healthy  individual  a  prodigious  appe- 
tite, the  first  and  best  pipe  of  the  day,  that  of  the  early  dawn, 
and  if  you  are  a  fisherman,  see  your  boat  is  all  right  and 
ship-shape  Bristol  fashion,  looking  carefully  into  all  the 
details  of  tackle,  bait,  harpoons,  knives,  and  "bootoo"  (a 
small  heavy  club  for  killing  sharks  and  other  sea  terrors). 
See  to  all  this  yourself,  as  your  boatman,  plucky  and  good, 
in  all  that  pertains  to  his  native  seas,  is  naturally  careless  and 
insouciant,  has  no  memory  or  thinking  power  whatever,  and 
is  sure  if  left  to  himself  to  forget  some  important  part  of  the 
equipment,  and  then  away  to  whatever  fishing  ground  the 
tide  then  suits.     Remember  the  sea  is  one  vast  lucky  bag, 


9©  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

and  you  never  know  what  you  may  come  across  or  draw 
thereout.  Do  not  be  disheartened,  if  after  many  attempts, 
you  have  toiled  hard  and  taken  nothing.  After  all,  your 
man,  or  men,  have  done  most  of  the  toiling  in  bending  their 
backs  to  the  oar;  very  likely  when  you  are  giving  up  in 
despair  and  returning  home,  you  will  (as  has  happened  to  me 
on  several  occasions),  hook  and  land  one  or  two  large  fish, 
making  up  for  all  your  chagrin. 

I  have  alluded  to  porpoises  and  the  mysterious  manner 
they  disappear  before  the  "remous."  Now  the  sea  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Bocas  is  nearly  always  being  occupied,  both  as 
a  playing  and  hunting  ground  by  these  ocean  shikarees. 
There  are  two  varieties  that  are  exceedingly  common,  the 
"marsouen  blanc"  (local  name)  or  white  porpoise,  a  small 
greyish-brown  porpoise  weighing  but  a  few  hundred  weight, 
and  the  other  "marsouen  canale"  or  canal  porpoise,  a  dark- 
brown  variety,  averaging  somewhere  about  a  ton  in  weight. 
They  are  great  destroyers  and  eaters  of  fish,  and  play  havoc 
with  schools  of  mackerel,  cavalli,  and  other  pelagic  fish,  and 
this  object  they  achieve  in  a  truly  military  fashion,  going  in 
Indian  file  and  throwing  out  wings  to  surround  their  prey. 
I  have  seen  a  veritable  army  of  the  big  porpoise  marching  in 
this  fashion  through  the  sea  with  extended  wings,  or  perhaps 
it  would  be  more  correct  to  express  it  in  Zulu  fashion,  horns, 
at  regular  intervals,  jimiping  and  rearing  their  massive 
bodies  right  out  of  the  sea,  silver  glittering  chunks  of  fish 
dropping  from  their  jaws,  and  note  well,  the  supposed  tyrant 
of  the  seas,  the  shark,  is  afraid  of  the  porpoise ;  he  may,  and 
doubtless  does  act  as  a  scavenger  or  camp  follower,  but 
attack  M.  le  Marsouen?  Never.  These  herds  of  porpoise 
do,  undoubtedly,  drive  shoals  of  pelagic  fish  near  the  coasts 
for  the  fisher's  benefit,  but  whether  the  destruction  that 
they  cause  counterbalances  this  or  not,  is  an  open  question. 


-TRAGEDY  OF  THE  FIRST  BOCA' 


Part  VII 
"TRAGEDY  OF  THE  FIRST  BOCA" 

The  Monster  "Maman-Balaou"*  of  Pointe  Rouge,  Unsatiated  by 
the  blood  of  Three  Previous  Victims,  Charges  a  Large  Seine  Pirogue. 
The  gallant  Galgitt  and  four  boatmen  find  a  watery  grave.  Exciting 
chase  from  I'Anse  Poua  to  Chaguaramas.  The  finny  demon 
charges  the  floating  dock.     Trapped  at  last  in  Hart's  Cut. 

During  the  past  fortnight  the  fisher-folk  of  Scotland  and 
Taitron  Bays  have  been  much  perturbed  by  the  mysterious 
disappearance  of  two  men.  On  Saturday,  March  21,  Bovril 
of  Scotland  Bay,  went  out  on  the  rising  tide,  ostensibly  to 
fish  "  Paoua"  at  Pointe  Rouge,  the  northeast  comer  of  the  first 
Boca.  Neither  he  nor  his  boat  has  been  seen  since.  On 
Wednesday,  the  25th,  Jonas  of  Taitron  Bay,  left  there,  say- 
ing he  was  going  to  try  for  "  Paoua"  at  the  same  place.  On 
Thursday,  his  boat  was  found  ashore  at  L'Anse  Biscayen,  and 
on  examination  the  sides  were  found  perforated  right  through 
by  some  tremendous  weapon,  presumably  the  beak  of  a 
sword  fish.  Jonas  has  left  an  only  brother,  "Soucoyen"  at 
Taitron,  who,  deeply  grieved  at  his  loss,  has  been  since  then 
vainly  searching  the  Boca  for  the  body.  On  Monday  morn- 
ing (30th),  very  early,  Galgitt  Tardieu  called  his  seine  crew 
together  and  went  towards  "  Dent  Ma  Taitron"  at  the  head  ot 
the  first  Boca,  looking  for  a  shoal  of  cavalli,  that  had  been 
seen  near  there.  Whilst  gazing  towards  Pointe  Rouge,  in  the 
cold  grey  morning  light,  he  distinguished  a  small  boat, 
which  he  judged  to  be  that  of  the  bereaved  "  Soucoyen",  and 
he  ordered  his  men  to  pull  towards  it.  As  they  were  doing  so, 
a  gigantic  object  seemed  to  hurtle  in  the  air  out  of  the  water. 
There  was  one  shriek,  a  tremendous  splash,  and  then  dead 


*  The  Maman-balaou  is  the  Trinidad  name  for  the  great  sail- 
fish  of  the  Indian  Ocean  (Tetrapturtis  ampins). 

Jordan  and  Evermann. 


94  ^EA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

silence.  When  they  reached  the  spot  they  saw  pieces  of  the 
boat,  but  no  body.  As  the  spring-tide  was  running  out  fast, 
and  the  "remous"  was  near  at  hand,  this  was  not  remark- 
able. After  rowing  round  some  time,  one  of  the  crew,  seeing 
a  huge  object  rise  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Pointe  Rouge, 
raised  a  shout  of ' '  Baleine"  (whale) ,  but  on  getting  nearer,  they 
espied  the  large  fan-like  fin  of  a  monster  "Maman-Balaou," 
or  "Ocean  Gar,"  the  largest  of  the  Scomberoides.  Nearer 
still,  they  could  make  out  the  gigantic  beak  or  bill,  possibly 
lo  to  12  ft.  in  length,  and  concluded  he  was  lying  by  for 
fresh  victims  as  all  three  men  had  been  presumably  lost  near 
this  point.  Galgitt  Tardieu,  during  his  forty  years'  experi- 
ence, had  never  seen  a  fish  of  this  size,  so  he  returned  to 
Scotland  Bay,  for  more  pirogues,  and  as  many  harpooners  as 
he  could  get  together,  to  rid  the  Bocas  of  this  terror. 

It  will  be  necessary  here  to  digress  a  little,  in  order  to  give 
most  of  the  readers  of  The  Mirror  some  information  regard- 
ing the  Tardieus,  who  are  and  have  been  the  hereditary  fish- 
ing chiefs  of  the  Bocas.  The  senior  members  of  this  family 
are  six  in  number,  and  are  direct  descendants  of  those  two 
gallant  vikings  and  hardy  old  whalers,  Charles  Dominique 
Tardieu  and  Jean  Baptiste  Tardieu,  names  that  were  house- 
hold words  to  a  bygone  generation.  The  living  representa- 
tives of  these  good  old  sea-dogs,  are  all  known  by  sobriquets 
flavouring  strongly  of  the  finny  denizens  of  the  deep.  "  Gal- 
gitt Grandecaille,"  " Vent-Vieille"  and  "Fontaine  Fish," 
have  their  residences  and  carry  on  their  fishing  business  at 
Scotland  Bay;  "Charles  Tassard"  is  the  doyen  of  Taitron 
Bay;  "Charles  Carangue"  takes  care  of  Gasparillo  and  its 
waters,  while  "Joseph  JoUe-rouge"  has  Grand  Fond  at 
Monos  under  his  fostering  wing. 

These  chieftains  of  the  fishing  clans  now  met  together 
and  mapped  out  the  plan  of  campaign.  Each  one  was  to 
furnish  a  pirogue  with  four  oarsmen  and  two  harpooners, 
and  in  addition  they  hired  the  pirogue  of  "  Molung  Baba,"  at 
Taitron  Bay,  which  was  put  in  charge  of  Captain  Modeste 
and  a  scratch  crew,  including  those  veteran  harpooners, 
Mathieu  and  Joseph  Tomar.  The  programme  was,  after 
harpooning  the  monster,  to  try  and  head  him  into  either 


"TRAGEDY   OF   THE   FIRST  BOCA"  95 

Scotland  or  Taitron  Bay,  where  he  could  more  easily  be 
despatched,  but  they  had  a  bitter  awakening. 

At  dawn,  on  Tuesday,  morning  all  the  boats  were  at  their 
stations,  the  three  Scotland  Bay  boats,  pulling  for  Pointe 
Rouge  to  find  the  big  fish.  Captain  Modeste's  boat  lay  off 
Roche  Mathieu  in  Scotland  Bay,  "Charles  Tassard"  guarded 
Taitron  by  Gros  Roche,  while  "Joseph  Jolle-rouge"  and 
"Charles  Carangue"  cruised  by  Kenny's  Point  and  Point 
Baleine,  respectively.  The  boat  of  "  Vent-vieille"  was  the  first 
to  sight  the  mighty  brute,  calmly  swimming  between  Dent 
Ma  Taitron  and  Pointe  Rouge,  so  going  on  the  outside  of  it, 
they  plunged  two  harpoons  into  the  fish,  which  turned  slowly 
as  if  something  had  tickled  it,  and  went  straight  for  L'Anse 
Pecheurs,  immediately  below  L'Anse  Paoua,  where  it  encoun- 
tered the  boat  of ' '  Fontaine  Fish. ' '  Receiving  two  more  har- 
poons which  accelerated  its  pace  to  L'Anse  Paoua,  the  two 
boats  fastened  on,  but  with  plenty  of  slack  line.  Galgitt 
was  waiting  for  it,  about  50  yards  off  the  L'Anse  Paoua  point, 
and  successfully  put  in  three  harpoons ;  but  this  lashed  the 
monster  into  a  fury,  that  was  terrible  to  behold,  churning 
the  sea  with  its  tail,  and  casting  vast  clots  of  sea  spume 
incarnadined  with  blood  from  its  head  and  back.  This  blood 
had  already  attracted  hordes  of  predaceous  fish,  conspicuous 
amongst  them  being  the  dreaded  "  tintorelles"  or  spotted 
sharks,  the  most  fearless  and  voracious  of  all.  Galgitt 
evidently  thinking  that  now  was  the  time  to  give  it  the 
"death  flurry"  tried  to  lance  it,  but  at  the  psychologic  mo- 
ment, the  pirogue  sank  in  a  chasm  caused  by  a  huge  ground- 
swell,  the  giant  fish  launched  itself  into  the  air,  transfixing 
the  gallant  Galgitt  with  its  iron  beak,  and  completely  obliter- 
ating boat  and  crew  with  its  huge  body,  which  must  have 
crushed  and  stunned  the  four  rowers,  who  were  seated  at 
their  oars.  The  two  harpooners  managed  to  float  long 
enough  to  be  picked  up  by  other  boats,  that  had  gathered 
near,  but  of  the  heroic  captain  and  his  sturdy  crew,  none 
else  were  left  to  tell  the  tale.  Away  went  the  sea-devil, 
with  its  fin  swaying  on  the  waters  like  a  great  fan,  away  past 
Roche  Mathieu,  where  that  veteran  whaler  "Mathieu," 
fastened  another  harpoon  into  it,  past  Taitron,  where  near 


96  SEA   FISH   OF   TRINIDAD 

Gros  Roche  "Charles  Tassard"  was  waiting  along  with  the 
boat  of  his  cousin  "  Jolle-rouge."  "Chambe  fort,"  cried 
the  wily  Charles,  and  four  more  iron  bolts  were  lanced  into 
the  fish's  body.  Still  faster  and  faster,  with  five  large  pi- 
rogues training  after  it,  and  ten  or  twelve  harpoons  in  its  back, 
went  the  "Terror,"  past  La  Haute,  down  the  channel,  past 
La  Retraite  (where  Kingsley's  much-wandering  Ulysses 
cheered  the  chase),  and  Petit  Gasparillo,  heading  straight 
for  the  Floating  Dock.  The  people  in  the  different  villas  on 
Gasparillo,  could  not  understand  the  cause  of  the  hue  and 
cry.  They  said  it  looked,  from  their  point  of  view,  like  a 
submarine  boat,  towing  a  number  of  pirogues,  but  they  could 
not  comprehend  the  reason  of  the  fearful  pace.  Chaguara- 
mas  Bay  was  now  alive  with  boats  and  fishermen,  conspicu- 
ous amongst  them  being  the  stalwart  form  of  Harry  Knaggs, 
who,  with  his  slogan  of  "C'est  moen  qui  la",  vainly  endea- 
voured to  get  near  with  a  harpoon.  Swerving  neither  to  the 
right  or  left,  with  a  crash  that  shook  the  dock  from  stem  to 
stern,  and  suspended  all  conversation  amongst  the  watch- 
men on  top,  the  great  brute  ran  right  into  the  dock  at  the 
southern  end,  and  fortunately  broke  off  five  or  six  feet  of  its 
beak.  The  impact  evidently  stunned  it,  as  it  now  went 
quite  slowly  in  the  direction  of  Hart's  Cut,  which  it  entered, 
and  the  tide  being  low,  it  practically  beached  itself  in  the 
narrowest  portion  of  the  cut.  The  huge  body  of  the  fish  is 
fixed  so  tight,  that  even  at  full  tide,  it  could  neither  move 
backward  or  forward.  The  days  of  the  "Terror  of  Pointe 
Rouge"  are  numbered,  but  what  a  fearful  price  to  pay,  in 
the  lives  of  so  many  brave  men ! ! ! 


[By  Telephone.] 

Hart's  Cut, 

lo  p.  M.,  Tuesday, 
The  "  Maman-Balaou"  is  not  dead,  but  bleeding  pro- 
fusely. It  cannot  move  and  the  harpoons  have  been  ex- 
tracted with  the  hope  of  keeping  it  alive  for  the  inspection 
of  the  townsfolk.  Its  estimated  weight  is  between  four  and 
five  tons.  Of  course  the  water  always  incoming  and  out- 
going, may  keep  it  alive,  but  we  have  had  to  put  a  Police 


"TRAGEDY   OF   THE   FIRST  BOCA"  97 

Guard  over  it  as  the  inhabitants  of  Hart's  Cut  have  not 
eaten  fish  for  a  fortnight.  The  sergeant  in  charge  informed 
us  that,  acting  with  his  usual  promptitude,  Captain  Saunders 
had  ordered  Captain  Edmund  to  put  the  "Paria"  into  com- 
mission for  an  excursion  at  reduced  rates  to  view  the  fish. 
The  steamer,  he  thinks,  will  leave  the  Lighthouse  Jetty,  at 
9.30  to-morrow  (Wednesday)  morning. 


Scotland  Bay, 

11.40  p.  M.,  Tuesday. 
There  is  much  rejoicing  here,  as  the  heroic  Galgitt  and 
his  men  have  just  been  brought  in  by  a  boat  that  was  com- 
ing up  from  turtle  fishing  at  La  Pefia.  The  doctor  has  exam- 
ined Galgitt 's  wound.  The  monster's  beak  went  deep  into 
the  fleshiest  part  of  the  veteran,  but,  fortunately  has  not 
injured  any  vital  organs,  and  he  is  doing  well.  It  appears 
that  the  reflex  action  of  the  huge  ground  swell  had  practically 
sucked  the  four  oarsmen  and  Galgitt  up  into  the  famous 
Guachero  Caves  at  L'Anse  Cabritt.  This  accounts  for  their 
disappearance  from  the  sight  of  the  others.  They  passed  a 
mauvais  quart  d'heure  in  the  cave,  but  there  was  plenty  of 
that  best  styptic  for  wounds,  salt  water.  About  7  a.  m.,  the 
passing  boat  heard  their  shouts  and  rescued  them.  Univer- 
sal joy  is  great,  and  the  Taitron  Bay  stringed  band  is  now 
serenading  at  Scotland  Bay. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

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